// Two major storms this month dent UK retail footfall, says Ipsos Retail Performance
// Storm Ciara saw retail footfall down 15.3% on weekend of February 8-9
// Storm Dennis, which hit the following weekend of February 15-16, dented footfall even more with a 16.3% drop
New data has suggested that February’s overall figures are in for a challenge as the storms that battered the UK over the last two weekends kept shoppers off the high street.
According to Ipsos Retail Performance, Storm Ciara led to a 15.3 per cent plunge in footfall across the country when it struck during weekend of February 8-9.
However, most affected region was the North West, with footfall plummeting 18.3 per cent year-on-year.
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Meanwhile Storm Dennis had a worse effect, with footfall spiralling by 16.3 per cent across the country when it hit during the weekend of February 15-16.
The South West and West Midlands were the worst affected, with significant drops of 23.5 per cent and 20.8 per cent respectively.
The full extent of the storms’ impact on February footfall and retail sales will be revealed when the overall monthly figures are released either at the end of this month or early March.
Despite this, Ipsos Retail Performance retail intelligence director Dr Tim Denison highlighted how there had been years in which the weather had even more of a negative effect on the retail industry.
“The two weekends had similar impacts at a UK level, as you might expect,” he said.
“This is quite typical of the impact on footfall of major winter storms, though not as dramatic as white-outs of previous years.
“Dennis’ impact was more localised given the storm was more about rainfall than windy conditions.”
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