A NEW study has shown that footfall on the main shopping streets and shopping centres in the Republic fell in the third quarter of this year by 1.78 per cent compared to the same period of 2009.

The Experian National Footfall Index shows that year-on-year footfall dropped by 1.9 per cent in July, 2.6 per cent in August and 0.8 per cent in September. In Northern Ireland, footfall decreased by 3.7 per cent in July but rose by 0.5 per cent and 3.7 per cent in August and September. The first year-on-year increase in consumer visits to high streets and the shopping centres in Northern Ireland occurred in August.

John Blood, head of sales and marketing for Experian in Ireland, said that footfall figures for the Republic had registered a consistent 2 per cent drop for the last two quarters compared to the same period in 2009. The most recent retail sales figures released by the Central Statistics Office showed there was an increase in retail sales last August.

Footfall figures for that month were actually down almost 5 per cent on the previous month. There was a further fall in September. “So although August 2010 recorded the first increase in retail sales in more than three months, the overall decreasing footfall registered illustrates that shopping activity continues to be depressed.” He said that September/October were generally quiet before the run-up to the festive season.

Blood said that although the footfall figure for the first and second quarters dropped by almost 6 per cent in Northern Ireland compared to 2009, the third quarter footfall figure registered an increase of 0.6 per cent.

This might indicate that the inflated figures due to the increased number of southern shoppers last year was starting to level off.