This weekend the Diamond Jubilee is expected to give a boost to retail figures afters shopping numbers in May were down 7.5% on last year and 3.3% on last month according to theRetail Traffic Index (RTI). However RTI suggests that as with last year's Royal wedding and the spring bank holiday people will celebrate the jubilee by jubilantly spending their extra time and money in the shops. DR Tim Denison, Head of Retail Intelligence at Ipsos Retail Performance, said: “In May last year, the UK was enjoying a mini-bounce in confidence on the back of the royal wedding ... If these [events] can help to lift the nation’s spirits, then shopper numbers could be swelled."
Each day in retail is very much a waiting game at the moment and store managers feel they have little to base footfall predictions on. They will find it hard to categorically say what the reason for any change in figures is this weekend with a change in weather, school holidays, a four day weekend and jubilee jubilations it is a fairly unique situation. Keep in mind also that many shops are using the jubilee as an opportunity to put on a sale, something that is always guaranteed to pull in the bargain hunters but which will decrease profit margins. In my opinion, whatever happens this weekend, no amount of bunting will change that retail and economic stability is still a way off.