Retailers count the cost as England exit the World Cup
Figures released today by FootFall, suggest that England’s World Cup campaign proved a mixed bag for retailers.
A combination of sustained periods of hot weather and the timing of crucial England fixtures, saw the traditional weekend shopping trip swapped for shorter, impulsive trips before matches with retailers compensated by increases in demand for food, drink and England branded merchandise throughout the tournament.
England’s weekend games had the biggest impact on shopper numbers, with year-on-year footfall levels falling by 22.6% and 16.1% respectively during England’s Saturday fixtures against Paraguay and Portugal, and by 2.4% and 9.7% during the weekday matches against Trinidad & Tobago and Sweden.
The drop in shopper numbers during England’s game against Portugal is likely to have been even more pronounced, had the Live 8 event had not occurred on the same Saturday last year when shopper numbers fell substantially.
Natasha Burton, spokesperson for FootFall, comments: “We saw shopper behaviour change dramatically during England’s World Cup campaign, in tandem with a frenzy of marketing activity that was launched by retailers to capture consumer’s imaginations.
“The town centres benefited as shoppers stayed closer to home to fit their shopping around match times, although overall, it is likely that the supermarkets will be the real retail winners, with Tesco reporting record-breaking sales of five million cases of beer, 20 million bottles of wine, 7.5 million disposable barbecues, 45 million sausages and 5.8 million burgers in the past three weeks.
“This week’s figures show yet another week-on-week rise, the third in a row, reflecting the increased optimism felt by the nation until Saturday. The week itself began very positively, performing well in comparison to the previous week, and indeed year, but was brought down later in the week as the temperature rose discouraging shoppers and the impact of the Quarter Final match itself was felt. This has the effect of bringing year-on-year levels down 5%. With forecasters now predicting heavy storms as the heatwave cools, the outlook for retailers may be improving, as would be shoppers venture indoors once again.”
Retail FootFall Index – England’s World Cup 2006 Campaign
England v Paraguay – Saturday 10th June 2006 (year-on-year): – 22.6%
England v Trinidad & Tobago – Thursday 15th June 2006 (year on year): – 9.7%
England v Sweden – Tuesday 20th June 2006 (year on year): – 2.4%
England v Portugal – Saturday 1st July 2006 (year on year):-16.1%
Retail FootFall Index – UK National Weekly:
Change for week 26 (26th June 2006 – 2nd July 2006): +1.2%
Change for week 26 year-on-year:- 5.0%
