Christmas shopping
(Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

Footfall on the high street down in December

Footfall fell year-on-year by 3.5% in December according to figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC).

This fall in the number of customers on the high street and in shopping centres represents the biggest decline since March 2013.

In a double whammy to retailers, margins were also squeeze by higher costs, as well as cheaper prices online and promotions such as Black Friday.

BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said said: “Households had to use their money more carefully, researching products online, rather than heading out to stores to browse.

“Retail parks fared slightly better than high streets by providing Christmas shoppers with the draw and convenience of parking, easy click-and-collect, and leisure facilities.”

How this decrease in footfall affected watch retailers specifically is less clear, with the latest indications from GfK data suggesting that sales value was up year-on-year in December, despite significantly fewer watches being sold.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *