Rain hits shops ahead of key Christmas season

Last month's wet weather dampened shoppers' appetites for visiting stores, just as retailers gear up for the key Christmas season.

Footfall on High Streets, retail parks and shopping centres fell by 5.7% in October from a year earlier, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC).
Cost of living pressures also affected spending habits, it said, with consumer confidence still weak.
Shoppers are more reluctant to make bigger purchases, the BRC added.

Covering the four weeks 01 October – 28 October 2023
According to BRC-Sensormatic IQ data:

• Total UK footfall decreased by 5.7% in October (YoY), down from -2.9% in September.
  • High Street footfall decreased by 4.6% in October (YoY), down from -1.7% in September.
  • Retail Parks footfall decreased by 4.3% in October (YoY), down from -2.4% in September.
  • Shopping Centre footfall decreased by 7.3% in October (YoY), down from -4.0% in September.

• Of the UK nations, England saw the least significant YoY drop in footfall, showing a decrease of 5.3%. Scotland saw a YoY drop in footfall of 5.5%. This was followed by Wales at 5.6% and Northern Ireland at 6.8%.

The heavy rainfall seen last month, which included the impact of Storm Babet, meant many people were decided to stay at home rather than head to the shops, the retail body said. However, when they did, shoppers were "being much more purposeful about their trips", BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson told the BBC's Today programme. She said people were "going out less and upping what they were buying each time in terms of volume of purchases".
Overall, Ms Dickinson said the retail market was "very volatile" and "quite a mixed picture".
"People are much more reticent on bigger purchases, particularly because of the pressures of cost of living," she said, but added that retailers are "very resilient".