No further evidence of the looming Easter holiday weekend in terms of retail spend

Experian Retail FootFall Index - UK National Weekly:
Change for week 11 (10th March 2008 – 16th March 2008):-2.1%
Change for week 11 year-on-year:-8.3%

Experian Retail FootFall Index – Town Centre Weekly:
Change for week 11 (10th March 2008 – 16th March 2008):-2.6%
Change for week 11 year-on-year:-7.6%

Experian Retail FootFall Index – Department Store Weekly:
Change for week 11 (10th March 2008 – 16th March 2008):-4.7%
Change for week 11 year-on-year:-4.6%


• Visits to retail locations have continued to decline despite the advent of an early Easter this year. The Experian FootFall National Index for week 11 registered a fall of -2.1% week-on-week, albeit less steep than the previous week (-5.4%), and with the underlying year-on-year trend recording a -8.3% fall in shoppers.

• A similar pattern was recorded in the High Street Index, with the fall in visits of -2.6 week-on-week and -7.6% year-on-year.

• Despite an increase last week, the Department Store Index returned to a downward trend and recorded a week-on-week decrease in visitors of -4.7%, and a year-on-year decrease of -4.6%.

• With Easter fast approaching, thoughts must be turning towards whether this traditional trigger will encourage more shoppers into stores to buy the new season’s merchandise. As yet, there is no evidence of the forthcoming holiday as far as retail spending is concerned.

18/03/2008