THE number of shoppers on the high street in February fell for the first time since October, prompting industry voices to call on politicians at Stormont to form an Executive as soon as possible.
Research by retail intelligence firm Springboard and the Northern Ireland Retail Consortium showed that footfall across all sectors in the north fell by 4.1 per cent last month.
This was below the three-month average of 0.5 per cent, but above the annual average of -0.7 per cent.
February’s footfall figures were in stark contrast to the previous month, when footfall on the high street actually grew by 2.4 per cent thanks to the January sales boost.
Shoppers in retail parks and shopping centres, on the other hand, saw a marked decrease.
Retail parks experienced their biggest drop in footfall (-1.6 per cent) since November 2013 as spend on furniture and household items – traditionally a significant footfall driver for retail parks – weakened slightly in February.
In response to the figures, industry leaders were quick to point to the fragile political situation in the north, coupled with other external factors such as the Brexit vote.
Aodhán Connolly, director of the Northern Ireland Retail Consortium, said the research amply reinforces the volatile nature of the retail market in Northern Ireland.
"What businesses and consumers need is certainty," he said.
"With the current political turmoil in Northern Ireland, the lack of certainty as to a government or budget and the fact we are only a few days from the triggering of Brexit brings a perfect storm of uncertainty at a time when we need to be sure of where Northern Ireland is going.
"Our message is simple. We need a government now."
Retail businesses in the north pay more than 22 per cent of business rates, while being only 12 per cent of the economy.
Earlier this week, the representative body for the industry, the newly-rebranded Retail NI, published their programme for government, entitled "Creating a Northern Ireland Economic Powerhouse".
The paper put forth several recommendations for the incoming Executive on how to stimulate the retail market in the north, including removing unnecessary red tape impacting businesses and implementing several new Enterprise Zones.
Diane Wehrle, marketing and insights director of Springboard, highlight the impact of the UK’s impending exit from the EU.
"Increasing uncertainty arising from the imminent triggering of Article 50 has certainly started to have an impact on purchasing behaviour, the types of destinations shoppers are visiting and how they spend their money," she said.
"High Streets are clearly benefitting as the destination of choice for dining and leisure, whilst shopping centres continue to underperform as they struggle with a weak entertainment and leisure offer, coupled with increasing caution amongst consumers around retail spend."
