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Highlights:
- Shopper footfall slumped again in November, indicating consumers are putting off Christmas spending.
- Although the holiday season is just around the corner, shoppers are reluctant to visit the shopping centres amid the high cost of living.
The rising cost of living restricts the consumers' purchasing power as they cut down on spending due to record-high inflation. Although the holiday season is just around the corner, shoppers are reluctant to visit the shopping centres.
As per the British Retail Consortium-Sensormatic IQ data, shopper footfall slumped again in November, indicating that consumers are putting off Christmas spending. Compared to the pre-pandemic levels, shopper footfall during the month was 13.3% lower. Against October, it was 1.5% lower.
Image source: Rawpixel.com,Shutterstock
The footfall at British high street stores was 13.6% lower than in November 2019, 2% down than in October. Shopping centres saw even fewer visits, which were 23.3% lower than in November 2019. The decline was relatively lesser at retail parks at 4.2%.
Another data for Scotland showed that shopper footfall tumbled 15% last month compared to November 2019. Shopping centre visits fell by 27.6%, data from the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) showed. This is worse than the decline witnessed across the whole UK. However, compared to last year's numbers, overall shop visits in Scotland jumped by 15.9%. Shopping centres also saw 23% more visits than last year.
Amid the latest data on shopper footfall, let us explore a few retail stocks on the London Stock Exchange.
Next Plc (LON: NXT)
Next Plc operates high street stores and a digital store and retails in apparel, accessories, and home improvement products. The company has acquired most of the clothing retailer Joules out of administration. It will own 74% of the equity in the company. With a market cap of £7,515.37 million, Next holds an EPS of 5.31 as of 2 December. Its 12-month and YTD returns are currently at -27.49% and -28.66%. Its last close was at GBX 5,814.00 on Thursday.
Marks & Spencer Plc (LON: MKS)
Another London-listed retailer is Marks and Spencer, which sells food, clothing, accessories, and other products. The FTSE 250 constituent has a market cap of £2,407.36 million and an EPS of 0.16 as of 2 December. Over the past year, its share value has depreciated by 48.36%. The shares closed at GBX 122.55 in the previous trading session.
Kingfisher Plc (LON: KGF)
Kingfisher is a home improvement company belonging to the FTSE 100 index. The firm holds a market cap of £4,812.68 million as of 2 December. The EPS is positive at 0.40, but the one-year returns currently stand in the negative territory at -23.66%. The stock closed at GBX 246.50 in the previous trading session.
Note: The above content constitutes a very preliminary observation or view based on market trends and is of limited scope without any in-depth fundamental valuation or technical analysis. Any interest in stocks or sectors should be thoroughly evaluated taking into consideration the associated risks.
