Bumpy Christmas points to New Year's bargains
27 December 2007
UNITED KINGDOM — The final run-up to Christmas has been a bumpy ride for retailers, presaging a bumper Sales season according to the latest Retail Traffic Index (RTI) figures from analysts Synovate Retail Performance, now part of global market research company Synovate. For the week commencing Sunday 16th December, the Retail Traffic Index was down 8% against the same week of 2006, but up by 15.1% on the previous week.
The most heartening news of the week for retailers was that shopper numbers on Saturday 22nd were up by 7.2% on Saturday 23rd 2006 and by 5.6% against the previous Saturday. Sunday too was a much better day than last year, though many shops closed their doors early in the afternoon then, as it was Christmas Eve. Shopper numbers were up by 23.1% against last year and by 5.2% week-on-week.
Synovate Retail Performance's spokesman, Dr Tim Denison said; "Last year the final weekend before Christmas was a wash-out. Everyone was expecting a last minute surge, but it simply failed to happen. The opposite is true this year: Saturday was a mega-day - the busiest shopping day of the year so far. Whether it was on the back of concerns over whether postal deliveries of gifts bought on the internet would arrive, or simply that people had left more of their shopping until the last minute; hoping for prices to tumble, we can't say.
"It is true that the weekdays this last week were all disappointingly quiet, but the weekend results would have given back some comfort to retailers up and down the country. Although it's likely that most retailers will now settle for the results, nevertheless, this has been such a topsy-turvy Christmas with no clear-cut trend developing, that most retailers particularly in fashion, shoes and big ticket items such as furniture and white goods will, more than likely, make significant deep-cut discounts after Christmas.
"Looking forward, therefore, we expect it to be a bumper Sale season. The 27th December may well turn out to be the busiest shopping day of the year, even busier than this last Saturday, but I don't expect it to exceed the record-breaking day it was last year. Forecasts are there to be shot down, though, and in this lumps-and-bumps campaign, who would bet against it? Certainly it seems that consumers are happy to carry on with their spending spree a little longer.
All enquiries for follow up or interviews with Dr Tim Denison should be directed to Theo Chalmers at Verve PR on 01908 275271 (weekdays) or 07932 004632.
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 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.