New cameras put the heat on shoppers
Just like something out of Big Brother (or even a Police song at a push), Dublin City Business Association (DCBA) has invested in a new heat-censored system to monitor where you’re spending your cash.
Footfall is the engine of city centre trading and is especially monitored by profit-hungry auctioneers.
They know rising footfall on any street is the spark to fire-start lucrative bidding wars as businesses queue up to get in on the action.
The new system, which picks up body heat from our weary feet, is paying for itself as its first set of figures shows Dublin trading is at an all-time high.
An average of 660,000 people pounded Dublin streets every day at the end of November with most of the action taking place on Saturday when 18.5% of shopping is done.
While the jury may be out on the merits of Sunday shopping, over 13% of people are choosing to shop on the traditional day of rest compared to 16.4% on a Thursday.
“People are returning to the city centre in large numbers and this justifies the investment made by Dublin City Council and the retailers in infrastructure and development in the capital over the last five years,” said DCBA chief executive officer Tom Coffey.
The buoyant economy, the advent of Luas, extended bus corridors and the completion of development works are all being cited as the reasons for the increased shopping fever.
While the southern capital hasn’t installed the new technology yet, the Cork Business Association said footfall was up by about 10%-15% on last year.
