(Bloomberg) — Wet weather prevented UK shoppers from rushing back to stores in March as reduced footfall seen over recent months persisted.
The total number of shoppers visiting UK stores fell 1.3% last month, although this was a vast improvement on the 6.2% year-on-year decline seen in February, according to a British Retail Consortium report on Friday.
“The choppy nature of footfall recovery we’ve seen over the past few months indicates that consumer confidence is yet to fully turn a corner, meaning we may see a bumpy recovery in shopper traffic in the months ahead,” said Andy Sumpter, a retail consultant at Sensormatic Solutions, which helped to produce the figures.
Though an improvement on February’s footfall, which saw the biggest drop since the pandemic, the slow recovery underscores the challenge facing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. He’s hoping an economic revival will help save the Conservative Party ahead of a general election expected later this year.
The BRC findings, which cover Feb. 25 to Mar. 30, showed London is still suffering, with a 4.6% decline in footfall last month. That’s only slightly better than the 6.2% drop in February. Northern Ireland, meanwhile, fared the best of all UK regions, with its capital of Belfast reversing a 3.1% decline in February to rise 9.4% last month.
High streets and shopping centers saw the greatest improvements, driven largely by an early Easter holiday.
Britons are watching their spending as inflation weakens their purchasing power and drives them toward discount retailers. But there are signs that price rises are easing.
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