Warm weather hits UK shopper numbers in September, BRC says
Shopper numbers fell last month against a year ago as the unusually warm autumn weather kept people out of shopping centres.
Numbers dropped 0.9% in September versus the same month last year, although they were up on the 1.1% fall in August and in line with the three-month average of a 0.9% decline, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and retail data group Springboard.
The number of visitors to shopping centres was 2.6% down on the previous year for September, the deepest decline since October 2013.
Out-of-town malls reported a 0.5% rise while shoppers on the high street fell 0.6% against a year ago.
But shopper numbers dropped in all parts of the UK except the south-east, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
BRC director-general Helen Dickinson said the rise in visitors to out-of-town centres and buoyant demand for big-ticket items such as furniture showed that consumer confidence was still rising, while Christmas should provide a boost.
Springboard's Diane Wehrle said the numbers would have been better if the warm weather had not put off people from buying clothes, as confirmed by sales figures from retailers Next and N Brown.
"If the weather had been more akin to the norm for this time of year, it is likely the result would have been far more favourable," she said.
Shore Capital's Clive Black said shopper numbers may rise if retailers cut prices to clear unsold stock.
"With a return to more normal, albeit mild, weather conditions in the UK in October 2014, we would expect the footfall data to improve further month-on-month," he said.