Year off to a good start for retailers

SHOPPERS would appear to have been out in force on New Year's Day, at least south of the Border, according to new figures.

Preliminary data from market information specialist Experian, published yesterday, shows a 9 per cent gain in average footfall compared with New Year's Day last year, which fell on a Thursday.

Anita Sharma Manan, quantitative analyst at Experian FootFall, said: "This is an excellent start to the year, and it appears, so far, the VAT increase has had very little if any impact on consumers' enthusiasm to shop. But any uplift in footfall may not deflect the fact that retailers' margins may suffer because of the sales and discounts offered."