UK retail traffic dropped in August, with shopper numbers 5.4% lower than in July, when they reached their summertime peak.
Ipsos Retail Performance, which compiles the Retail Traffic Index (RTI), also revealed that footfall figures were 0.9% down on last August.

And in London, the effects of the tube strikes saw shopper numbers down as much as 9.5% year-on-year in the first week of the month.

Nevertheless, Ipsos forecasts that footfall growth in Q3 will stand at +1.1% year-on-year, in excess of the +0.1% figure achieved in Q2.

"The drop in footfall came as a surprise to us, especially following such a busy July," commented director of retail intelligence Dr Tim Denison.

"July brought with it the strongest year-on-year rise in any month for 11 years. A dip during August is always expected, with many people away on summer holiday, but not to the extent that we saw this month. In fact, with a month-on-month decline of 6.7%, it was the greatest July to August swing since 2003."

However, he went on: "The drop in numbers is in no way a reflection of the public's economic mood and wellbeing. All such data shows that the consumer economy continues to march forward with confidence. During August it may have even improved, with volatility in the financial markets pushing back an expected interest rate rise until 2016."

"I don't believe that this month's disappointing figures mean that retailing is returning to a state of volatility. The causes seem to be more isolated events, culminating to impact on shoppers' physical trips to the store.

"We view August's footfall decline simply as a blip, and something that should not be repeated in September. Regular pay growth continues to improve and the housing market is regaining its vigour."