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Record temperatures and rising inflation hit UK footfall in July

By Huw Hughes

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Retail

Image: Pexels
Image: Pexels

Record high temperatures and rising inflation amid the cost-of-living crisis deterred consumers from visiting physical stores in July, new data shows.

Footfall in the UK decreased by 14.2 percent compared to levels from the same month three years ago, prior to the pandemic, according to the latest BRC-Sensormatic IQ Footfall Monitor.

July footfall was 3.7 percentage points worse than June.

Shopping centres were hit hardest, with footfall down 24.8 percent year-over-three-years, while footfall on high streets fell 15.9 percent, and footfall at retail parks dropped 9.1 percent.

“Following four months of steady progress, UK footfall stalled in July as record temperatures and the rising cost-of-living deterred people from visiting local shops,” BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said in a statement.

She continued: “There was some respite in the last week of July, ahead of the Women’s Euros finals, as people stocked up on food and drink to watch the Lionesses bring footfall home. Meanwhile, footfall in Northern Ireland bucked the UK trend and improved slightly on the previous month.”

Breaking it down by country, Scotland saw the steepest decline in footfall with a drop of 16.5 percent compared to three years ago, followed by a drop of 15.8 percent in Wales, 14 percent in England, and 12.3 percent in Northern Ireland.

BRC
Footfall