The so-called ‘golden quarter’ didn’t really happen for retailers in Northern Ireland, industry figures reveal.
That’s defined as the three-month period which includes Black Friday and Christmas sales, and is the busiest time for retailers, often accounting for up to half of their annual profits and a third of sales.
But footfall in the three months to December 28 was down by 3% on the previous year, data from the NI Retail Consortium (NIRC) and Sensormatic shows.
In December alone, shopper numbers were down 5.8%, the largest decrease of the four UK regions and much worse than the UK average decline of 2.2%.
And for the whole of last year, total Northern Ireland footfall was down 2.2% on 2023.
NIRC director Neil Johnston said: “Visits to stores in Northern Ireland slipped back in December compared to the same period the year before, rounding off a pretty drab ‘golden quarter’ and 2024 as a whole in terms of shopper footfall.
“Black Friday promotions gave a fillip to foot-traffic early on, but across the month as a whole footfall was feeble and fell across all destinations.”
He added: “There’s little denying these are disappointing figures for retailers with bricks and mortar premises, many of whom were hoping for a final flourish to the year and a good Christmas to help weather increasing costs and tide them over the leaner months early in the new year.
“That said, there is rarely an exact correlation between footfall performance and retail sales growth, and with a third of non-food retail sales purchased online it may be that retailers have proved adept at harnessing technology to get through to consumers who may not have the inclination or time to travel to shops.
“This remains a period of significant flux for retail. Weak footfall, sluggish demand, rising government-mandated cost pressures, and an uncertain outlook are all weighing on stores. The structural, economic, and regulatory changes affecting retail show few signs of abating.”
Andy Sumpter, retail consultant at Sensormatic Solutions, added: “While December saw some flurries of festive footfall around a few key trading days, overall the picture was filled with much less sparkle as shopper traffic remained subdued in what should have been the highlight of the golden quarter.
“While store visits did build ahead of Christmas, it was never quite enough to reverse the shopper count deficit against last year.
“As footfall limped towards the festive finish line, December’s lack lustre performance compounds a disappointing end to 2024, marking the second consecutive year of declining store traffic.
“Retailers will now need to look afresh to 2025 and chart a course to adopt innovative strategies to reverse this trend or maximise the sales potential of fewer visitors, finding new ways to make each store visit count.”
