Although footfall at retail destinations in the UK continued to slowly climb back towards pre-Covid levels, the pace of improvement slowed, according to the latest data from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Sensormatic IQ.
Overall footfall for retail destinations was down 12.4 % compared to 2019, pre-Covid levels, only an 1.8 % improvement from July. This was worse than the three month average decline of 12.3 %
Since the pandemic started, the majority of shops have suffered long closures, which has affected footfall significantly.
The UK is facing massive increases to energy bills as other household costs, including groceries and fuel.
“Many people remain concerned about the rising cost-of-living and the price of their energy bills, which has kept them away from visiting high streets and town centres,” BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson, said.
High street footfall was down 13.6 % cent last month, compared to the same period three years ago. This was an improvement on the three month average decline of 14.5 %.
Shopping centre crowds were down some 22.7 %t versus pre-Covid levels, an improvement of 2.1 % points vs July’s rate.
However, crowd-drawing events such as the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and the Edinburgh Fringe helped boost city footfall.