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No Quick Fix for Oxford Street



The latest figures from SPSL's Retail Traffic IndexT (RTIT) show that the historic event designed to revive the fortunes of shops in London's West End last weekend delivered mixed results. Saturday's "Celebrate Oxford Street - Dress to Impress" event did help lift shopper numbers in the Congestion Zone by 10.0% compared to the previous week. And in Oxford Street itself, stores' footfall levels were up by just over 30% against the previous Saturday.



However, the year-on-year figures were less flattering and more revealing; in the Congestion Zone shopper numbers were down 12.1% and in Oxford Street itself numbers were down by over 5%.



According to Dr Tim Denison, Director of Knowledge Management at SPSL; "These latest figures demonstrate the size of the challenge facing Oxford Street in 2005. Not even the glitz and glamour of celebrities nor roads closed to traffic could encourage as many shoppers into the West End as there were on a normal Saturday in October just last year.



"Welcome to retailers as they are, promotions and marketing campaigns alone are not going to be sufficient to attract shoppers back permanently to the West End. The issues are more deep-rooted than that.



Some of the blame can be attributed to the fallout from 7th July and the general retail slowdown, but certainly not all of it. The downward trend in shopper numbers there was present long before this summer, the terrorist attacks and the Congestion Charge Zone.



Oxford Street and Regent Street used to be a magnet for shoppers worldwide, offering a combination of destination stores, high quality retail environments and exclusive products that couldn't be equalled elsewhere.



Today this simply isn't the case and no amount of cosmetic treatment will make it so, as revealed by these figures. The numbers simply vindicate this year's establishment of the West End Company and the urgency of its aim: 'to make the West End a world retail destination'.



Retailers, journalists or analysts wishing to find out more about SPSL's award-winning customer services should contact Dr Denison at SPSL on 01908 265007.






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