SRC: Footfall and vacancies more favourable in April

The latest SRC-Springboard footfall and Vacancies Monitor also revealed that Scottish footfall was the best performing of all UK regions in April, with an increase of 0.7 per cent. Some way above the UK average of -0.5 per cent.
 
Scottish High Street’s were the best performing of all UK regions, with an increase of 1.8 per cent. Retail Parks also saw an increase, with growth of 1.0 per cent.

However, shopping centre footfall declined by 1.6 per cent in April.

David Lonsdale, SRC director | Scottish Retail Consortium, said: “This is a more favourable set of results. The resumption of growth in shopper footfall after nine months of decline is positive, and bodes well ahead of the publication of our retail sales data for April. The challenge will be for retailers to convert that into an enhanced performance at tills, and it appears those retail destinations which benefited from rising footfall were the ones which offered consumers a ‘day-out’ experience when shopping.

“The improvement in the shop vacancy rate in our town centres is similarly encouraging, and ended a run of four quarters in which the rate was in double figures. That said, one in every ten shops remains empty.

“Hopefully these more upbeat figures won’t prove short-lived. This is a period of significant tumult for the retail industry, with profound changes in shopping habits at a time of weak demand and rising cost pressures. These changes show few signs of abating.”
 
Diane Wehrle, marketing and insights director | Springboard, said: “There is an obvious distortion in the year on year footfall results for April due to the early Easter in March last year. Whilst across the UK the expected bounty in April was not sufficient to deliver positive figures, in Scotland the outcome was slightly more heartening with a rise in footfall of +0.7 per cent.  This is reflected in Scotland’s vacancy rate which at 9.8 per cent is lower than both the UK rate of 10.2 per cent and Scotland’s rate of 11.2 per cent in April 2018.

“Even more encouraging was a rise in footfall in Scotland’s high streets of +1.8 per cent, only the fourth month over the past two years to deliver an increase, although in Scotland’s shopping centres footfall declined by a further 1.6 per cent from last year.  On a more positive note, the +1 per cent increase in footfall in Scotland’s retail parks in April was the first for five months and indicates that the tradition of spending time and money on our homes and gardens during Spring endures.

“The context over the past two years is critical here, as the significant drop in footfall in April last year means that Scotland’s footfall still at a lower level than in April 2017; 6.7 per cent lower in high streets, 0.8 per cent lower in retail parks and 4.7 per cent lower in shopping centres. 

“The superb weather over Easter clearly delivered a boost to coastal towns and historic cities across the UK which are magnets for domestic and overseas tourists, both of which saw footfall rise in April; by +1.8 per cent in coastal towns and +0.7 per cent in regional cities.”