November footfall slides as rain dampens shopper numbers

Overall retail footfall fell 3.4% in November year-on-year, exacerbated by a 4.3% fall in shopper numbers across UK high streets, according to data company Springboard.

The monthly comparatives were worsened by this year’s later Black Friday, which fell outside of the monthly trading period.

Heavy rainfall in the latter part of the month meant that footfall slumped 4.4% in the second two weeks of November, compared with a 2.4% fall over the first two weeks.

Retail park and shopping centre footfall declined 1.8% and 3% respectively during the period.

By contrast, over the Black Friday discount event at the end of last month footfall rose 3.3%, far ahead of Springboard’s previous forecast of a 4.5% decline.

Springboard marketing and insights director Diane Wehrle said: ““Whilst the heavy rain will have deterred many shoppers from making trips to retail destinations, the poor footfall in the second half of the month will have been exacerbated by the proximity of Black Friday discounts. Alerts arriving on a regular basis into consumers’ inboxes in the run up to Black Friday enabled consumers to watch the retail market easily and identify the depth and spread of discounts being offered. If they weren’t already planning on doing so, this will have led to many consumers pulling back on trips to destinations causing a spending freeze over the last two weeks of the month in anticipation of big discounts on current stock.

“The fact that the Black Friday weekend also started on payday heightened the chances of a spending spree which took place after the month had ended. This pent up demand is clearly evident from the fact that footfall in the last week of the month in shopping centres dropped by -5.2%, more than in high streets and retail parks. Having the greatest concentration of retailers heavily promoting discounts, it was not surprising that it was in shopping centres where footfall increased most over Black Friday.”