Consumer footfall in Northern Ireland experienced a decline of 2.3% in August, compared to an increase of 2.5% in August 2016, according to the Northen Ireland Retail Consortium (NIRC).
This figure represents a further decline on July's rate of -2%, and is in line with the three month average of -2.3%.
Retail parks, shopping centres, and high street stores in Northern Ireland have all experienced three consecutive months of declines.
"This is another underwhelming performance for Northern Ireland when compared to the rest of the UK, with our shopper footfall numbers again being rock bottom of the league table," Aodhán Connolly, director, NIRC noted.
"Most disappointing is that Northern Ireland has now seen a full quarter of footfall decline across all three areas measured, high streets, retail parks and shopping centres, and at a faster rate of decline than over the past year as a whole."
Diane Wehrle, marketing and insights director at Springboard suggests that these subdued figures are partially due to a rise in online shopping, considering the fact that online sales values rose by 11% in August, representing the greatest rise this year.
"In part the rise in online activity will have been a result of much cooler, rainy weather this August than in 2016 which undoubtedly discouraged some shopping trips," said Wehrle.
© 2017 - Checkout Magazine by Donna Ahern