Black Friday 'dampened High Street visits'

Despite the Christmas shopping rush, visits to high streets were down in November

A rise in shoppers seeking out Black Friday deals online led to a sharp drop in trips to the High Street in November, according to a survey.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) and consultants Springboard said the number of shoppers on UK high streets fell 3.4% in November compared with the same month last year.

Visits to all shops, including shopping centres and retail parks, dropped 2.1%.

The BRC said better online discounts for Black Friday "dampened" business.

Helen Dickinson, BRC chief executive, said: "Shopper footfall wilted once again last month, as consumers shunned High Streets and instead sought to take advantage of online 'Black Friday' promotions and discounts which often ranged across several days."

It was the eighth monthly decline in a row and a much steeper fall than the 0.2% drop seen in October.

However, retail parks continued to the buck the trend with a 2% increase in footfall, the 23rd consecutive monthly growth.

Diane Wehrle, marketing and insights director at Springboard, said the shopping destinations had embraced "the three C's of convenience, choice and customer service".

Another BRC survey released last week indicated that sales in November at all shops open for more than a year fell 0.4% compared with the same month in 2014.

The BRC/KPMG survey found shoppers held back in the hope of big savings on Black Friday, which took place on 28 November.

But many retailers did not make the discounts in-store that shoppers had been hoping for.