The last few weeks have been rather wet, it feels like it has been raining constantly. And whilst my garden is a lot happier than it was this time last year, the same cannot be said for the retail sector. 

Despite the expectation that consumers have been starting their Christmas shopping earlier this year, it has been reported by the BBC that footfall at high streets, shopping centres and retail parks fell by 5.7% in October compared to the same period the previous year.

Consumer confidence is still low, but not as low as it was a year ago. The British Retail Consortium has speculated that the heavy rainfall has kept people at home. But this doesn't explain the fact that the biggest slump has been at shopping centres (with a 7.3% reduction), despite the fact that shopping centres are largely under cover.

It seemed like there was a resurgence of in-store shopping this year. Does this latest data mean that consumers are moving back towards online shopping? Could this just be a short term trend due to the weather? The retail sales figures for October are yet to be published. It will be interesting to see whether retail spending has also dipped, or if people are still shopping online or spending more during fewer trips out.