Promising outlook for retailers as England top the table.
Figures released today by FootFall suggest that England’s World Cup game against Sweden last night did not have the same negative effect on the UK retail sector as the earlier Group B games against Paraguay and Trinidad & Tobago, largely due to the later kick off time of 8pm
While the number of people visiting retail destinations was down by over 22% year-on-year on Saturday 10th June, when England played Paraguay (2pm kick off), and by almost 10% last Thursday when England played Trinidad & Tobago (5pm kick off), shopper numbers were down by only 0.2% yesterday. This allowed people to keep their daily routine unchanged, working normal hours before arriving home to watch the game.
Natasha Burton, spokesperson for FootFall commented: “While weekend and afternoon games can impact significantly on retailers, especially if they coincide with hot weather spells, later games tend not to have a similar effect, which is clearly good news for retailers. Compared to last Tuesday, the number of shoppers fell by only 2.4%, which is encouraging.
“In addition, the outlook for the sector is very positive with the year-on-year index bringing shopper levels in line with 2005 levels and the Retail FootFall Index for last week revealing that shopper numbers increased by almost 5% compared to the previous week. This demonstrates the duel effect the World Cup is having on retailers – while shoppers tend to avoid the High Street during key games, overall consumer confidence is boosted by the goodwill sweeping the nation.
“With England’s second round fixture now confirmed for this Sunday 25th June at 4pm, and a likely quarter final clash the following Saturday 1st July, retailers should ensure they capitalise on consumer goodwill in the build up to each game, in order to compensate for the effect that two consecutive weekend England games is likely to have on footfall levels,”
Retail FootFall Index (UK) – Tuesday 20th June 2006:
Change for Tuesday 20th June 2006 v Tuesday 13th June 2006: – 2.4% Change for Tuesday 20th June 2006 year on year: – 0.2%
Retail FootFall Index – UK National Weekly:
Change for week 24 (12th June 2006 – 18th June 2006): +4.9%
Change for week 24 year on year: – 3.8%
