Shopper numbers increase - but no sustained recovery for now
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Loading... - Benjamin Fournier
- 07 Apr 2023
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Shopper numbers on the high streets and shopping centres across the north improved again in March - and retailers say they expect a further bounce in April given the Easter bank holidays.
But overall shopper foot-traffic remains well down on pre-pandemic levels, and one retail chief says “there is some way to go before we see sustained recovery”.
Figures from the NI Retail Consortium and Sensormatic IQ covering the five weeks from February 26 to April 1 show that overall footfall in the north was up by 7 per cent year on year.
This was 5.7 percentage points weaker than February but better than the UK average increase of 6.8 per cent.
Shopping centre footfall increased by 7.8 per cent, a decline on the increase of 16.4 per cent in February, while the number for Belfast city was up 4.5 per cent - some 8.2 percentage points weaker than the previous period.
But compared to pre-pandemic 2019 levels, total Northern Ireland footfall was 10.4 per cent lower, shopping centres down 10.3 per cent and Belfast down 12.7 per cent.
NI Retail Consortium director Neil Johnston said: “These increases are encouraging and better than in England, but are perhaps also indicative of the challenging situation that consumers find themselves in. Read More…
