NI economy: Footfall down as businesses chased festive cheer

January sales can be a busy time for shoppers but the run-up to Christmas is the most important time of year for both retail and hospitality.

One Belfast restaurant owner said the festive period this year was still strong, but could have been better.

Andy Rea, co-owner of Home restaurant, said inflation had a big impact on profitability.

He added other factors " put a dampener on things", such as the public transport strikes in December.

"That put us under a bit of pressure especially on those days," he continued.

Figures from the Northern Ireland Retail Consortium (NIRC) suggest footfall was 4.7% lower in December compared to the previous year.

"Generally in hospitality in years gone by Christmas would be the cream. It would be a really good time to make a profit," Mr Rea said.

"Hospitality, what has happened to us over the last few years, it's now about survival.

"We need Christmas to get enough in the pot to keep us going through to the summer when the tourists come. In Christmas, we need to get bums on seats to get us through the new year.

"We are optimistic about January but it's just not the same amount of profitability in hospitality as years gone by."

Restaurants and retailers are offering discounts this month to try to encourage people to come out and spend during what is traditionally a quieter time of year.

They know the pressure on the cost of living is squeezing disposable incomes so they have to be as competitive as possible.

Carol Little, who owns Alana Interiors in Lurgan, noticed an increase in the sales of big ticket items like furniture since Christmas.

She said shoppers were being more considered in their spending and looking for discounts.

"We've seen an increase in big ticket sales from straight after Christmas. The January sales would normally not have started properly in store until 2 or 3 January when we would re-open," she said.

But we were noticing that right after Christmas we were getting orders and that was different to previous years."

The director of NIRC, Neil Johnston, said the footfall figures for December followed disappointing figures in October and November too.

"It has been a tough quarter for retailers perhaps reflecting consumers continuing concerns about inflation and their own financial position," he said.

"Some of the decline in footfall may reflect the impact of online shopping - around a third of non-food retail sales are now purchased online.

"Retailers are increasingly adept at harnessing technology to get through to consumers who may not have the time or inclination to travel to physical shops."

Mr Johnston has called for more support for retailers in the months ahead.

"Now is not the time for government to add to the costs of retailers," he said.

"In the rest of the UK unfortunately the government has decided to push up business rates bills in April. Northern Ireland should not follow suit.

"We hope that, should an executive be re-established, its first decision should be to freeze the regional rate."

Northern Ireland has been without a functioning executive since February 2022 because of the Democratic Unionist Party's protest about post-Brexit trade rules.