A report from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) has analysed the five weeks beginning 26 November - 30 December, and this shows year-on-year, December Footfall decreased sharply by 3.5%, the biggest decline since March 2013 when it dropped by 5.2%. The December monthly year-on-year figure was significantly below the three-month rolling average of -1.9% and the twelve-month rolling average of -0.7%.

All regions showed a drop in Footfall for December, the sharpest reductions being experienced by Scotland (4.7%), South West (5.2%) and Greater London (3.7%).

The East saw an end to its twelve-month run of positive growth, declining by 2.6%.

Of the three shopping locations, only Retail Parks saw two regions showing growth: South East (0.9%) and West Midlands (0.1%).

Scotland saw a decline of 4.7%, the largest fall since April 2016 (6.2%).

Footfall declined by 3.1% in Northern Ireland in December compared to a 2.4% decline in November (now seven months of consecutive decline) and close to the UK average decrease of 3.5%. This drop is lower than the three-month average decrease of 3.9%, but higher than the twelve-month decrease of 2.5%. High Street and Retail Parks both saw a decline of 3.1%, while Footfall in Shopping Centres decreased by 3.2%.

In Wales, Footfall changed course in December and declined by 2.6% from November which saw positive growth of 0.9%. This was below the three-month rolling average of -0.9% and the twelve-month rolling average of 0.7%.

Chief executive of the BRC, Helen Dickinson OBE said: "The sharp drop in footfall this December, while sales grew overall, underlines how shopping is being transformed by the shift to online. In the past, shoppers would have exclusively visited physical stores to ensure stockings were filled for Christmas. Improved delivery options by both purely digital retailers and those with stores and an online offer mean many purchases of last minute gifts are moving online.

"The squeeze on discretionary spending also contributed to the decline in footfall. Households had to use their money more carefully, researching products online, rather than heading out to stores to browse.

"Retail parks fared slightly better than high streets by providing Christmas shoppers with the draw and convenience of parking, easy click-and-collect, and leisure facilities."