Partner Article

Retail footfall figures up

The recession is having less effect on shoppers’ spending habits this Christmas, according to recent footfall figures.

Despite the growing amount being spent online this year, physical shops are having a better Christmas than the last one, as greater numbers of shoppers visit major retail stores than this time last year.

Capital Shopping Centres (CSC), responsible for some of the UK’s largest retail outlets, including the Metrocentre in Gateshead and Braehead in Glasgow, said footfall through its stores was up on last year’s figure.

The number of people visiting the centres was up 3% for the year to date in 2009, with more than seven million shoppers flocking to CSC’s 14 centres in the past week alone.

Trevor Pereira, commercial director at CSC, said: “Sales of traditional favourites - electrical goods, perfume sets, CDs and DVD - remain popular Christmas items.

“The pace of shopping is steady across the whole of the UK, and as ever, we expect late shopping surges over the next two weekends before Christmas.”

The past weekend was one of the busiest in the retail year as millions visited high street stores and out of town shopping centres.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .