Caution remains paramount for consumers
Consumers remain cautious with their spending as footfall across Northern Ireland reflects this.
Footfall in the region decreased by 1.0% in May (year-on-year), up from -14.3% in April, while footfall in shopping centres decreased by 0.2% last month, up from -12.8% in April.
The latest figures from NIRC-Sensormatic data also reveals that footfall in Belfast increased by 0.1% (year-on-year), up from -15.4% in April. The figures cover the four weeks from 3rd to 30th May.
While Northern Ireland continued to perform well in terms of shopper footfall when compared to other parts of the country, consumers are still being cautious. As Director of the Northern Ireland Retail Consortium, Neil Johnston outlined, shoppers are concerned that the impact of war in Iran has yet to hit, leaving consumer confidence low.
“Total retail footfall was down 2.6% across the UK compared to the same period last year. Northern Ireland, however, was only down 1% while Belfast was marginally up with a rise of 0.1%,” said Neil Johnston.
“Edinburgh and Belfast were the only two cities across the UK to experience an increase in the number of shoppers. Ironically, the arrival of good weather in the final week of the month clearly had a negative impact with consumers less minded to head to shops when the weather is fine.”
Mr Johnston added that consumer confidence remains depressed as a result of the costs accruing from the international instability.
“Everyone is expecting inflation to rise in coming months, so consumers are likely to remain cautious,” he added.
“The Westminster Government and the Northern Ireland Executive will need to tread carefully to ensure they don’t exacerbate those concerns. Indeed, they need to explore what they can do to reduce burdens and costs on retailers in order to ease the cost-of-living pressure on consumers over the coming months.”
Meanwhile, Andy Sumpter, Retail Consultant EMEA for Sensormatic Solutions said that results reflect the lingering impact of an early Easter and a difficult April.
“Consumer confidence may be edging up slightly, but it remains fragile, with geopolitical uncertainty continuing to weigh on discretionary spend. Shoppers in Northern Ireland also appeal to be changing how they engage with physical retail,” said Andy.
“While visits to retailers within shopping centres fell, overall visits to shopping centres rose – one of the few positives this month – suggesting consumers are still visiting destinations, but making fewer, more considered purchases.”
He added that while May does little to fundamentally shift the broader narrative of cautious consumers and pressured footfall, Northern Ireland’s relative outperformance suggests demand has held up better than in much of the UK.
“For retailers, the challenge and the opportunity lie in converting these more deliberate visits into meaningful spend, by delivering the right mix of value, relevance and experience as we head into the summer months.”
