Footfall melts on the High Street
Summary
If you suspect that 2026’s ongoing series of heatwaves, which now threatens to conjoin into one long summer of baking temperatures, might be denting your takings, new figures on footfall for Gloucestershire’s commercial zones revealed today will do little to cool that fear.
Details
The British Retail Consortium ‘s latest data crunch, in tandem with BRC-Sensormatic , showed that an overall 3.4% fall in visitors to the tills was recorded in June as shoppers veer away from the outdoors and simply stay in.
And with that overall figure, it gets particularly worse for high streets: from Moreton-in-Marsh to Wotton-under-Edge, across to Lydney and Lechlade and throughout Tewkesbury, Gloucester and Cheltenham, the new data suggests our traditional shop settings experienced a drop of 6.2% in June.
Retail parks and shopping centres fared better, the BRC said, recording drops of 0.3% and 2.5% respectively, though that signalled a deepening decline on the 0.5% and 2.4% they showed in May. Helen Dickinson , chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said the link between the barometer and activity was conclusive. She said: “Footfall dropped in June as the record heatwave kept many shoppers indoors.
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High streets saw the sharpest declines, while air-conditioned shopping centres and retail parks proved more resilient. Underlining the climate link, London and the South East witnessed declines which exceeded the South West which, as part of the England data, experienced an overall dent of 3.0% across all settings.
For the BRC, the temperature factor arrives alongside challenges that retailers are already struggling to solve. Ms Dickinson said: “[They] are working hard to deliver value for customers, yet higher taxes and regulatory burdens are making it harder to invest, create jobs and grow.” She renewed her call for government action on business rates and energy costs to help unlock investment to revive local communities.
Andy Sumpter, Sensormatic’s retail consultant for EMEA, said that while the overall trend remained subdued, it continues to reflect “a cautious consumer who is making fewer, more considered trips”. He added: “At the same time, consumer confidence is improving slightly but remains low, with wider uncertainty continuing to weigh on discretionary spend.” This was reflected in shopping patterns, he said.
Given retail footfall at shopping centres being down 2.5%, overall visits to shopping centres themselves crept up 0.6% – suggesting consumers are still visiting these destinations, but engaging more selectively once they are there.
Report source: Punchline Gloucester