Easter shopping arrives a week later

Experian Retail FootFall Index - UK National Weekly:
Change for week 13 (24th March 2008 – 30th March 2008): +7.9%
Change for week 13 year-on-year: +0.2%

Experian Retail FootFall Index – Town Centre Weekly:
Change for week 13 (24th March 2008 – 30th March 2008): +7.9%
Change for week 13 year-on-year: +0.9%

Experian Retail FootFall Index – Department Store Weekly:
Change for week 13 (24th March 2008 – 30th March 2008): +13.3%
Change for week 13 year-on-year: +11.8%

Experian Retail FootFall Index – Retail Park Weekly:
Change for week 13 (24th March 2008 – 30th March 2008): +16.2%
Change for week 13 year-on-year: +7.1%

• The Retail FootFall UK Index shows that retail activity saw signs of revival over the past week, up 7.9 per cent on the previous week. This rise is even more significant since the previous week contained Easter, traditionally one of the busiest shopping weekends of the year.
• The Retail FootFall Index for the UK is mirrored by similar week-on-week rises for the other key Experian FootFall retail indices. Town Centres up 7.9%, Department Stores up 13.3% and Retail Parks up 16.2%.
• It appears Easter shopping arrived a week later, and shoppers are starting to respond to the new Spring ranges and offers, greatly assisted by the milder weather.
• Meanwhile online visits were up 2.2 per cent compared with last Easter according to Hitwise, the Experian-owned internet tracking company. This confirms the pattern of increasing Internet activity at the expense of High Street visits.
• Thorntons.co.uk received its largest ever share of Internet visits for the week ending 22 March and was the number one Shopping & Classifieds: Flowers & Gifts website over Easter. Visits to the website increased by 137% compared to the Easter week in 2007, and were 25% higher than during Christmas 2007.
• Other online gainers included HMV.com and the extended holiday resulted in peak in traffic to online DIY stores. UK Internet traffic to House and Garden retailers such as B&Q, Screwfix Direct and Homebase has been increasing steadily over the last three years, and the sector is now the sixth most popular retail sub-category online, putting it ahead of the Computers, Music and Video & Games categories.

01/04/2008