Footfall ‘better than expected’ in August

Footfall fell by 4.1% in August compared with the same month last year, according to the Ipsos retail footfall tracker.

Despite the drop, analysts described footfall levels as “better than expected” as the pace of year-on-year footfall decline slowed in August. Ipsos said this might be down to the success of ‘Back to School’ deals and shoppers or a “silly season”.

Regionally, south west England and Wales suffered the sharpest decline with footfall down 9.3% compared with the same month last year. The Midlands saw the second largest drop, down by 5.2%, while Scotland and Northern Ireland, northern England and London and the south east saw declines of 2.7%, 2.5% and 2.4% respectively.

Compared with the previous month of July, footfall was up by 0.9% overall.

London and the south east and northern England were the only regions to see higher levels of footfall, recording figures of 3.2% and 2.3% respectively. Footfall was down by 1.8% in the Midlands, 3.1% in Scotland and Northern Ireland and 4.3% in south west England and Wales.

For September, Ipsos predicts that footfall will decline by 4.4% when compared with August.