Retailers endure World Cup blues in June
5 July 2006
UNITED KINGDOM — Retail research group Synovate Retail Performance's Retail Traffic Index™ (RTI™) for June, released today, showed shopper numbers were up by 2.1% on May, but down somewhat more problematically by 7.2% against June 2005.
Retail footfall levels slumped noticeably in the two weeks in which the England games fell on a Saturday afternoon - normally the busiest shopping time of the week. For w/c 4th June the RTI fell by 8.7% year-on-year and in the quarter-finals week, w/c 25th June, shopper numbers were down by 10.1% against June 2005.
Dr. Tim Denison, Director of Knowledge Management at Synovate Retail Performance said; "There's a chance that some retailers might be accused of overplaying the 'World Cup effect' when they eventually comment on their summer trading. However, the RTI figures, particularly for the weeks of the big England games, do show that the tournament has had a significant impact on June performances.
"Non-food retailers are faced with ever tougher competition for a significant share of people's recreational and leisure time, particularly in light of everyday work/life imbalances. Such has been the rise in personal wealth and growth in spending over the last decade, that there is simply not the inherent need or desire to shop so voraciously nowadays as they've already got everything. This, together with the growing role that food retailers play in non-food sales, presents a significant challenge to the specialists.
"When faced with the choice, many householders in the UK are happy to substitute their normal shopping trips with box watching if the draw is strong enough. This has been true during times of the football World Cup. The main influence so far was felt on two days. On Saturday 10th June, when England played Paraguay, shopper numbers across the UK were down 13.7% against the previous Saturday (4th June). On the final day of the England team's tournament, Saturday 1st July, the corresponding figure was 16.7% lower than the same day of the previous week (24th June).
"Some sectors, such as the home entertainment consumables - CDs, DVDs and the like, have suffered 'double whammies', with music and film companies electing to delay launches until the tournament is over.
"Retailers will not be surprised by the June figures, but, like football supporters around Europe, they will be living on their nerves. Clearly whilst the World Cup has had an impact, there is still a lingering frailty in consumer confidence and retail activity. Heavy promotion and deep discounting will invariably be part of 'Summer 2006'.
"There was a time when the shops could indulge in two two-week Sales a year. They were major events in the retail calendar, for shoppers and retailers alike. Those days seem long gone. The 'July Sale' now invariably begins in June and is likely to run into August. The fact that EDLP (Every Day Low Prices) has become part of the language of shopping is symptomatic of the every day benevolence that is now embedded in people's expectations of shopping.
"These are exciting times for retailers. By past standards, householders still have high levels of disposable income, but they are electing to be more discerning in how they spend it. The quest for every retailer is to re-invent the ways in they can win the same stake of consumer spending that they have enjoyed in the past. Not all will succeed, but those that do will raise the bar for the future."
Retailers or analysts wishing to find out more about Synovate Retail Performance's award-winning customer services should contact Dr Denison at Synovate Retail Performance on 01908 682700. Media enquiries should be directed to Theo Chalmers at Verve PR on 01908 275271.
Contact(s) for this press release
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Tim Denison
Synovate Retail Performance |
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34 Walker Avenue |
Tel. +44 (0) 1908 682 700 |
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Theo Chalmers
Managing Director, Verve Public Relations |
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Park House, 8 Grove Ash |
Tel. +44 1908 275 271 |
Synovate Retail Performance provides footfall monitoring solutions, shopper tracking systems and in-store behavioural research to retailers worldwide. Its core products - Shopper Count, Shopper Interact and Shopper Engage - scientifically measure all aspects of a shopper experience from store entry to exit. It supplies national and international retailers with essential business metrics to drive accountability and performance improvement.
Synovate Retail Performance is home to the Retail Traffic Index series, which for over 10 years has been the industry's leading tracker of national, regional and sector retail footfall trends. It is also co-founder of the KPMG / Synovate Retail Think Tank, offering thought leadership on the state of retail health and the future of retailing.
General information for Synovate Retail Performance, email info.rp@synovate.com
Synovate Retail Performance Limited is registered in England and Wales under number 3552625 with its registered address at Minerva House, 5 Montague Close, London, SE1 9AY, UK. Synovate Retail Performance is a wholly owned subsidiary of Synovate.
About The Retail Traffic Index (RTI)
The RTI from Synovate Retail Performance is regarded as the national benchmark of retail shopper traffic flow. It is constructed using a nationally representative sample of over 520 million visits to over 3,100 retail premises per annum across the UK, excluding the grocery, convenience and minor retail service sectors.
For further details and a full explanation see here.
About Synovate
Synovate generates insights to help clients drive competitive brand, product and customer experience strategies. Now part of Ipsos, with offices in over 80 countries, our approach combines best in class global research capabilities with personalised service, local knowledge and the flexibility to create teams and processes that meet clients' specific requirements. At Synovate, our clients sit at the top of our organisational chart, driving us to continually develop more innovative research solutions that predict actual business outcomes.
For more information on Synovate visit www.synovate.com.