Retail footfall holding up well
3 December 2007
UNITED KINGDOM — The latest Retail Traffic Index (RTI) figures from research group Synovate Retail Performance show that despite a good deal of gloom from analysts and city-watchers, November was better than anticipated. Footfall on the high street was up by 2.7% on October, but still down by 0.8% on November 2006.
The view from Synovate Retail Performance's retail psychologist, Dr Tim Denison, is "that it's lovely to be able to bring some good news to the party this month, as pressures build in the run-up to Christmas. We had forecast that retail traffic would fall by 1.7% in the month against last year, so the decline of just 0.8% shows that activity on the high street has held up well in November.
"The long spell of cold, but dry weather was welcome particularly to the fashion sector. Key to it was that the period was sustained. When weather conditions oscillate at this time of year, people don't form a mindset that they really need a new winter coat or pair of boots, but when the cold snap endures the initial thought is re-enforced and this can then trigger a shopping expedition.
"The other major stimulant last month was the arrival of the i-Phone in some UK stores. Though distribution is limited to just two of the main retailers, the rest have ran counter-strategies and shoppers have been actively exploring the various offers.
"2007 has been an altogether quirky year for UK retailing. It has been difficult to predict right from the onset. Retailers have struggled to get into any rhythm over what is selling and what's not; hard trends have simply not emerged. Demand has been fickle, making it hard for retailers to buy ahead with any certainty.
"We are all expecting next year to be tougher, but the focus of attention right now is the runway up to the Christmas take-off. We are not seeing signs of panic or distress on the high street. Indeed, there is a feeling of calm serenity, but we await to see whether the storm is one of frenzied shopping or ill winds.
"There has been nothing to throw us off our long-term forecast made in September. Synovate Retail Performance is expecting to see the number of shopping trips made over December fall by 2.1% against last year – so neither a 'famine nor feast year' for retailers, but an outcome that I'm sure they would settle for. We shall see how things actually pan out over the coming weeks, but at this stage everything is still to play for."
Synovate Retail Performance will be producing regular reports in the lead up to Christmas and in its aftermath. It is also inviting enquiries from media interested in exploring retail themes.
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. Originally founded as Solution Products Systems Ltd (SPSL) in the UK in 1998, it was acquired by Synovate in December 2007 and now offers unrivalled global reach and scalability through Synovate's network of in-country teams and three specialist hubs based in Europe, North America and the Far East.
It supplies national and international retailers with essential business metrics to drive accountability and performance improvement. Synovate Retail Performance harnesses powerful retail and shopper intelligence and creates real deployable insight, to deliver its mantra of "Measure, Manage, Improve" to clients.
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. Synovate Retail Performance is part of Synovate Customer Experience, Synovate's global business practice specialising in the profitable management of the total sum of all customer interactions.
For more information on Synovate Retail Performance click here.
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, the market research arm of Aegis Group plc, generates consumer insights that drive competitive marketing solutions. The network provides clients with cohesive global support and a comprehensive suite of research solutions. Synovate employs over 6,400 staff across 62 countries.
For more information on Synovate visit www.synovate.com.