Little Christmas cheer for UK retailers as footfall and sales hit by tougher COVID rules
Restrictions kept non-essential stores closed for much of 2020 - and concern about the pandemic has kept shoppers cautious.
Friday 8 January 2021 07:59, UK
Retailers hoping for a recovery over Christmas have been left disappointed, according to figures on sales and footfall.
Both categories saw a brief boost at the beginning of December, following the end of November's restrictions, but this quickly fell away under the force of tougher COVID tier rules.
The BRC-ShopperTrak footfall monitor showed a 46.1% slump in footfall across UK shopping destinations during December, compared with the same month in 2019.
High street stores saw a 49.5% drop, shopping centres were down 47.3% and retail parks fell by 17.3%.
Coronavirus restrictions have kept non-essential retail closed for a large portion of the last year in an effort to limit the spread of the disease.
Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said: "After an encouraging start to the month, Christmas shopper numbers dwindled as December progressed, due in large part to the creation of Tier 4 in England and increased restrictions elsewhere in the UK.
"London, the South East and Wales were hardest hit, with footfall dropping by over four-fifths in the final week.
"However, it has been a hard year for the entire country, with footfall down by 43% in 2020 compared to the previous year."
Meanwhile, BDO's high street sales tracker showed like-for-like sales were down 1.6% in December, despite an initial boost at the beginning of the month following the end of England's second national lockdown.
Fashion sales were down 6.2%, lifestyle sales fell 5.4%, but homeware sales reported 29.3% like-for-like growth.
Sophie Michael, head of retail and wholesale at BDO, said: "Shoppers were ready to spend at the start of December, providing retailers with some much-needed Christmas cash.
"This optimism was scuppered, however, as lockdowns returned across the country, dampening consumer sentiment, with discretionary spend following close behind."