Despite the bank holiday and warmer weather, British consumers avoided the high street in May, with shopper numbers falling by 4.2 per cent.
Footfall for last month was depressed, falling 0.8 per cent over the May bank holiday compared with the same time last year, according to Ipsos Retail Performance, which said that rising food costs and increasing utility bills had left households with both less disposable income and a reduced desire to spend on non-essentials.
Tim Denison, director of retail intelligence at Ipsos Retail Performance, said: “May is the month in which we usually see weekly footfall progressively rising as the weather improves and shopping becomes a more frequent pastime. The upswing didn’t happen this year. That’s not to say it won’t, but it’s certainly late.
“At a time when we find ourselves in political and economic no man’s land, it’s wholly understandable why shoppers are exercising more caution when it comes to spending disposable income. With four in ten shops managing at present to convert more browsers this year over last, it’s apparent that consumers are being more discerning and selective with what they buy.”
Footfall fell in every region of the country compared with last year and last month in a sign of the severe challenges facing Britain’s retailers.
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The southwest of England, and Wales, suffered the biggest year-on-year drop, of 8.9 per cent.
In comparison with April, Scotland and Northern Ireland witnessed a drop of 10.6 per cent last month.
Mr Denison said: “Footfall may have stuttered but the fact it hasn’t fallen off a cliff means shoppers are not in a state of severe retrenchment — rather a slight throttling back. We expect the same degree of softening to carry into June while [non-food] price deflation and economic uncertainty continue.”
Ipsos Retail Performance compiles its figures by following shoppers entering 4,000 UK non-food retail stores.