Retail gloom persists in June
More consumers are choosing to shop locally, or over the Internet, rather than make trips to out-of town-shopping centres, because of the rising price of petrol.
According to the latest Experian National Retail FootFall Index, out-of-town retail destinations experienced much larger drops in visitors (5.8%), compared to town centres (1.5%).
The largest drops occurred in Eastern England, the South West, Wales, Scotland and Yorkshire - areas with the largest distances to travel to major shopping locations. However, at the same time, visits to retail websites increased by 6.5% in comparison to the same period of last year.
