Shoppers flocking to the North

PRE-CHRISTMAS sales did little to lure consumers into stores in the Republic as latest figures show a drop in shoppers, who instead flocked to the North.

Figures released by Experian show 2.3% less people visited shopping centres and city stores in the republic last year compared with 2007.

In the run-up to Christmas, the drop was 2.3%.

Figures for Northern Ireland show shopper numbers were up every week in the year, except one, since the start of September, with the week just before Christmas showing a 25% increase on the previous year. In the republic every month last year, except March, showed a decrease in footfall when compared to 2007.

Property services manager with Experian, Mark Mullally said: “Post-Christmas sales have traditionally been employed as a tactic to help retailers get rid of excess stock, but this year the sales constitute the primary retail activity of the season.”

Mr Mullally also said the increased footfall in the North suggests that retailers there benefited from an influx of Southern shoppers anxious to maximise on lower VAT and a favourable exchange rate.

Retailers are facing a challenging year ahead and the sector will need to be clever in adapting to the changed environment, according to Mr Mullally.

“We anticipate that customer retention and loyalty programmes will become an increasing focus of retail marketing campaigns in the coming year with many high street fashion retailers using email marketing campaigns and the internet to increase sales.”

Discussing the 2008 year, Mr Mullally said: “The overall footfall figures for the year have been consistently down in relation to last year, with only one month, March, performing better than 2007. This performance was due to an increased growth in shopper numbers around St Patrick’s Day and the Easter holidays which occurred earlier than usual in 2008. The worst performing months included April, down almost 6%, and May, July and September which were all down almost 4% on their corresponding months last year.”

Meanwhile, Tesco said revenue growth accelerated from a 15-year low over the Christmas season after price cuts kept customers from switching to discount supermarkets.

Sales at British stores open at least a year rose 2.5% in the seven weeks ending January 10. The company would not give a breakdown of its Irish operations but it said revenue at its international operations, which includes Ireland, rose 33%.