Retail Footfall Declined in Oct Ahead of Lockdown

UK BRC-SHOPPERTRAK OCT FOOTFALL -33.5% Y/Y (SEP -30.1%)

Footfall improved 3 days before lockdown

• The modest recovery of the BRC-Shoppertrak footfall monitor came to a halt with footfall declining by 33.5% year-on-year, down from -30.1% recorded in Sep.
• High streets were again the worst performing location with footfall dropping by 39.3% y/y.
• Shopping centres saw a decline as well in Oct, slipping to 37.7% and registering slightly above the 12-mo avg of -37.8% y/y.
• Retail Parks was the best performing location, only falling by 9.3% y/y, as consumers value the wider open spaces and the higher proportion of supermarkets.
• Northern Ireland saw the smallest decrease of footfall at -26.0% y/y, while Wales recorded the largest downtick of -64.9% due to stricter social distancing measures in Oct.
• The report noted that footfall improved significantly three days before the lockdown as consumers rushed to shops ahead of their closure.
• The BRC noted that footfall is likely to decline sharply in Nov as non-essential shops are forced to close their doors again just before Christmas, their most crucial trading period.