Summer sales lose their lustre
High street sales supported by the recent interest rate cuts have done little to entice consumers back to the shops.
Figures released from Footfall reveal a 3 per cent fall week-on-week and a 5.5 per cent decline from the same period last year.
Natasha Burton at FootFall says “As the effect of the latest interest rates cuts will not be felt immediately, consumer confidence continues to be low. Our latest figures suggest that shoppers are being cautious about parting with their money as they are uncertain how much disposable income they will have each month, particularly with the recent rises in fuel prices and some household bills increasing by more than four times the rate of inflation.
“Usually, the summer sales would be enough to encourage consumers to hit the shops to snap up a bargain, but that hasn’t been the case this year. The uncertain weather has only confused shoppers, who are unsure whether to take advantage of summer clothing sales or wait for new season arrivals.
“However, it wasn’t all bad news for retailers over the weekend. The start of the Premiership football season and the final Ashes Test was expected to provide a boost to retailers, with sporting widows hitting the shops in defiance of their partners spending their leisure time at matches or in front of the television. And it did. We recorded an increase of over 7 per cent on Sunday from the previous week, which was a welcome rise for retailers, but overall the weekend failed to perform,”
[b]FootFall UK National Index: [/b]
Change for week 32 (8th August 2005- 14th August 2005): – 2.7% Change for week 32 year-on-year: – 5.5%
[b]Weekend 13th-14th August 2005[/b]
[b]Saturday 13th August[/b]
Change week-on-week: – 0.1%
Change year-on-year: – 2.28%
[b]Sunday 14th August [/b]
Change week-on-week: + 7.3%
Change year-on-year: – 10.6%
