27 December 2006
Final pre-Christmas shopping figures from retail analyst SPSL show that the final Saturday and Sunday (23rd and 24th) weren’t as busy in the shops as many retailers had hoped. The number of people out shopping on Saturday 23rd was actually down week-on-week, by -0.2% and by -0.8% year-on-year. Christmas Eve was significantly quieter with numbers down by -16.0% week-on-week and by -26.2% year-on-year.
Dr. Tim Denison, Director of Knowledge Management at SPSL and leading retail psychologist comments; “On the face of it, retailers may be a little disappointed with the latest Retail Traffic Index™ weekend results. We had anticipated a record surge on Saturday, but in truth it was a steady day rather than spectacular one. It seems many people had completed their gift shopping before then and probably turned their attention instead to getting last minute groceries. In fact Saturday 16th – the previous Saturday – turned out to be the busiest Christmas shopping day this year.
“Christmas Eve was plainly quiet, but the figures are somewhat deceptive. Last year Christmas Eve fell on a Saturday when there were no restrictions to trading hours. Nevertheless we had not expected the number of people out shopping to be 16% down on the previous week. Either retail lethargy has once again struck the shopper, or they are awaiting the Sales.
“We should not, however, dwell too much on an over-hyped weekend. Numbers throughout the final week were solid and the shortfall in shoppers compared to last year steadily diminished as the days went by. In fact many retailers would have happily settled for these figures if they had been asked earlier in the month during a period when shoppers were very slow out of the blocks.”
The full figures over the last few days are as follows;
Date Week-on-week Year-on-year
Wed 20th +31.1% -5.0%
Thurs 21st +34.9% -2.0%
Fri 22nd +37.0% -0.1%
Sat 23rd -0.2% -0.8%
Sun 24th -16.0% -26.2%
Important Note to Editors: SPSL will be issuing a further Christmas RTI update on:
Wednesday 27.12.06 – 4th week in December/boxing day results release
ENDS
All enquiries for follow up or interviews with Dr Tim Denison should be directed to Theo Chalmers at Verve PR on 01908 275271 (weekdays) or 07932 004632. SPSL would like to make it clear that the RTI is the only UK index that exclusively measures the number of shoppers actually entering stores as opposed to persons entering retail centres, where there may be stores as well as other non-retail premises and which may be accessed for a host of reasons other than in order to enter a store. ABOUT SPSL
Established in 1989, retail research group SPSL is the largest European provider of proprietary tools for high accuracy customer traffic and behavioural analysis deployed by retailers. The company monitors more than 420 million visits to over 2,150 retail premises per annum in the UK alone. Its customers include many of the retail industry’s most successful companies across all retail sectors except grocery, convenience and minor retail service sectors. SPSL is trusted by retailers to provide mission-critical Key Performance Indicators to measure customer volume, sales opportunities, conversion rates, staff stretch, promotional activity and in-store lay-outs. Its data features regularly in serious trade and consumer media and it exclusively provides the UK Retail Traffic Weather Map as seen in Retail Week and on the Retail Bulletin website. Director of SPSL, retail psychologist Dr. Tim Denison is a frequent and popular commentator on issues relating to shopping for national and regional broadcast, print and online media.
Using SPSL systems, retailers are able to reliably measure customer traffic flow on an ongoing hour-by-hour basis as well as determine in-store ‘weather’, assess the impact of marketing initiatives, and tailor staff levels according to customer demand rather than service supply. The company owes its unrivalled reputation and success on the accuracy, dependability and specialist nature of both its data and its support services. It runs its UK and European operations from its head office in Milton Keynes, England and invests heavily in developing advanced behavioural analysis and tracking tools to create ever more beneficial trading results for its customers and ever more enriched shopping experiences for theirs.
STOP PRESS: SPSL wins GLA tender. From 24th July 2006, SPSL has been appointed as sole official supplier of footfall data to the Greater London Authority (GLA) and Transport for London (TfL). The GLA has entrusted SPSL with this critical task in order to have a truly accurate measure of the impact of the existing Congestion Zone and the proposed Congestion Zone western extension on shopper numbers in central London. SPSL is proud to enter into this relationship with the GLA and to have demonstrated once again the superior accuracy, robustness and reliability of its data.
ABOUT THE RETAIL TRAFFIC INDEX (RTI)
The RTI from SPSL is regarded as the national benchmark of retail shopper traffic flow. It is constructed using a nationally representative sample of over 420 million visits to over 2,150 retail premises per annum across the UK, excluding the grocery, convenience and minor retail service sectors. For further details and a full explanation see www.customercounting.com.
For PRODUCT information please contact:Dominic McGuinness or Dr Tim DenisonSPSL34 Walker AvenueWolverton MillMILTON KEYNESMK12 5TWTel: +44( 0)1908 682700Fax: +44( 0)1908 682739website: www.customercounting.com
MEDIA enquiries to:Theo Chalmers Verve Public RelationsPark House, 8 Grove Ash Mount Farm MILTON KEYNES MK1 1BZ Tel: +44( 0)1908 275271 Fax: +44( 0)1908 275272 e-mail: t.chalmers@vervepr.co.uk
