However, the organisation cautioned that retailers should not panic at the decline. SPSL director of knowledge management Dr Tim Denison said: 'These are not the sort of figures that make comfortable reading for retailers. However, we believe that recent talk of a Christmas crisis from some quarters is premature and fails to acknowledge fairly well-documented behavioural changes in recent years.'
The last two weeks in November were traditionally a time for browsing stores in search of inspirational gifts, with some spontaneous purchasing. However, many people now do this initial research online. Over the past few years, consumers have left their trips to the shops later and later, largely as a result of retailers declaring pre-Christmas Sales.
However, over the past two weeks, shopper numbers failed to build at the rate forecast and numbers down 8.5 per cent year on year for the last two weeks of November.
Denison said: 'The question is whether the slow start will be symptomatic of the whole campaign, or whether it reflects changing habits and bargaining expectations. We should be able to determine over the next week or so what sort of Christmas this will be.'
He added: 'We forecast that the number of shopping trips will fall 2.4 per cent year on year in December - not a carnival, but certainly not a major crisis, particularly for those retailers with the right stock and inducements.'
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