The attitude of customers "without madness" continues in March

A survey suggested that the "no fool" consumer attitude was continuing despite the rise in the number of UK consumers last month.

According to the British Retail Consortium and Springboard survey, the number of visitors to stores in March increased 1.4% from one year to the next.

But Springboard said the improvement reflected a favorable comparison from March 2018, when attendance fell by 6%.

"We continue to live a culture without madness," said Springboard.

Diane Wehrle, director of insights at Springboard, said the buyers remained focused on "caution".

• A gloomy weather "will make life more difficult for companies"
• Bad weather hits Christmas shopping on Main Street

"It becomes very obvious when we look at the number of steps each week, the month being suspended for two weeks while the number of steps has dropped in the middle of the three weeks," she added.

Challenging environment

In the United Kingdom, attendance at High Street increased by 2.5% per year in March.

Attendance in shopping centers increased by 1.5%, but that of shopping centers decreased by 1% from one year to the next.

Helen Dickinson, CEO of BRC, said: "Retailers will be relieved to see the number of visitors increase over last year, although this was heavily influenced by the weather: while buyers in 2018 were in competition with the "Beast of the East", in March was mild in comparison.

"Unfortunately, the increase in attendance did not translate into increased spending."

Several stores are suffering in the difficult context of High Street, Debenhams having recently fallen into the administration before being saved by its lenders.

Last year, Poundworld, Toys R Us and Maplin all went bankrupt and completely disappeared.

Other familiar names – Homebase, Mothercare, Carpetright and New Look – have been forced to restructure their contracts with their owners, thus closing hundreds of stores.

The HMV music channel has recently entered the administration before being purchased.

The growing popularity of online shopping, rising business rates, rising labor costs and the fall in the pound sterling following the Brexit vote – which has led to higher costs imported products – were attributed to the fact that retailers had experienced difficulties.