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Retail: High street loses out over Christmas trading period

Lauretta Roberts
04 January 2016

Footfall across UK high streets dropped by 3% year-on-year during the period from Monday 28 December 2015 to Friday 1 January 2016 (with footfall down 2.6% YOY on New Year's Day), as shoppers gravitated towards online shopping and retail parks, according to research firm Springboard.

This compares to a strong result for the high street this time last year with an increase in footfall from Monday to Friday after Christmas of 6.2% YOY and 14.2% YOY on New Year's Day.

There were two positive spikes on the high street over the festive period however. The so-called "Take-Back Tuesday", when shoppers returned unwanted gifts, triggered a 5.1% growth in footfall YOY. On Saturday 2 January, as shoppers braved bad weather to make the most of New Year sales, high street footfall was up  9.7% YOY; this compared to an increase of just 0.3% for retail parks and 4.8% for shopping centres on that day.

The weather has played a strong part in pre- and post-Christmas shopper behaviour. A mild December meant fashion stores struggled to shift AW15 stock, in particular outerwear, while heavy rain kept shoppers at home or headed to retail parks and shopping centres over the festive period.

Analysts are now awaiting for the UK's big retailers to post trading updates. The most hotly anticipated is Marks & Spencer, which is expected to announce a drop in fashion sales of between 3% and 5.5%. Its rival Next is expected to post a positive increase in sales of around 3%.

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