Cross-border Christmas shoppers set North’s tills ringing

Eager cross-border shoppers helped set tills ringing in the North last month according to the latest retail report which showed the biggest increase in overall shopping numbers in Northern Ireland stores in more than two years.

According to the Northern Ireland Retail Consortium, shopper footfall in the four weeks running up to the end of November rose by 3.5 per cent year on year with all retail locations from the high street, to retail parks and shopping centres enjoying a trading boost.

Aodhán Connolly, director of the Northern Ireland Retail Consortium (NIRC), said the growth in shopper numbers was “hugely encouraging” for retailers before their busiest time of the year.

Mr Connolly said the latest NIRC statistics released on Monday showed that the high street in particular in the North had been particularly popular with shoppers and saw “a sparkling 4.7 per cent growth last month”.

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“The overall footfall growth rate of 3.5 per cent is our best performance in over two years,” he added.

The retail report, which was carried out by Springboard, shows that Northern Ireland’s retail sector overall delivered a stronger performance compared to other regions across the UK where the high street bounced back but there was a slowdown in footfall to out of town destinations and a decline in footfall to shopping centres.

Retail sector

The NIRC said all indications show that the North’s retail sector has been helped by the continuing flow of Euro shoppers from the South.

“It is clear that southern shoppers are availing of the great offers retailers have in Northern Ireland for a variety of reasons including the Euro exchange rate,” Mr Connolly said.

But he also warned that the North’s retail industry “cannot thrive or grow on just currency fluctuations alone”.

Instead Mr Connolly said what Northern Ireland urgently needs now is a specific retail strategy for the North that address what he described as “the cumulative burden of government-imposed costs on the retail industry”.

“We understand the Scottish government is considering a retail strategy for their jurisdiction and this is an area where we in Northern Ireland cannot afford to fall behind, especially as Brexit is likely to affect our consumers more than anywhere else in the UK.

“What retailers need from the Economy Minister and the Executive as a whole is not just recognition of the positive contribution of our industry but a strategic partnership to deliver, jobs, growth, investment and exports,” said Mr Connolly said.