High street shop visits have fallen off sharply in the new year higher than expected, according to the latest report from retail analysts.
New data from FootFall for the week of 9 January to 15 January shows that the number of people shopping on high streets has plunged 10.9% over the week prior and by some 5.2% on the same week in 2005.
Despite posting strong gains throughout the Christmas shopping period, the figures confirm analysts’ predictions that shoppers would use this time to start thinking about how to pay off their holiday debts.
However, FootFall said it had not expected such a harsh drop-off.
“Footfall levels were expected to drop last week, as shopper levels traditionally level out during the second week of the year after the Christmas season has ended and retailer trading hours return to normal,” said Natasha Burton, marketing manager at FootFall.
“We would not, however, have expected this fall to be as severe.”
The report posed some good news for department stores, which found that well-targeted promotions had helped encourage repeat visits.
Department stores have now out outperformed their smaller competitors since September 2005.