The British Retail Consortium and Springboard has released figures to show that despite high street sales falling 1.4% and shopping centre sales falling 1.3%, this has been the best performance recorded for seven months.
Other figures recorded have seen footfall in retail park’s rise 4% year-on-year, which is the highest since January last year.
BRC chief executive, Helen Dickinson, said: “Retail parks continue to offer shoppers a full leisure experience and are already seeing strong increases in footfall. Retailers who have invested in stores in these locations will be hoping the draw remains strong throughout the winter months.
“The overall decline in shopper numbers across the UK now stands at 0.2% - a marked improvement from last August’s 1.6% fall. UK High Streets are showing their best figures for seven months with the footfall decline slowing to just 1.4%. This may offer a small crumb of comfort to retailers who will be hoping that this signals the end of shoppers deserting the high street and raise hopes of their return, especially with Christmas on the horizon."
Regions that saw a footfall increase in September are Greater London, the South East and East Midlands.
