S
cottish retailers skilled a drop in footfall final month however fared higher than these in most components of the UK, a commerce affiliation has mentioned.
The Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) mentioned footfall in Scottish retailers decreased by 0.9% on a year-on-year (YoY) foundation between May 28 and July 1 when put next with the earlier month.
This is a smaller drop than the UK common fall of 1.9% in the identical interval.
Shopping centre footfall elevated by 3.6% in June in Scotland, in comparison with the earlier 12 months, however was 3.7 share factors worse than May.
Footfall elevated in Edinburgh by 4.7% (YoY), whereas Glasgow noticed a lower of seven.2% (YoY).
Rising mortgage charges and doubtlessly larger taxes to plug gaps within the public funds might weigh additional on client sentiment
The figures have been calculated by the SRC utilizing exact shopper numbers getting into shops throughout Scotland via Sensormatic IQ knowledge.
David Lonsdale, director of the SRC, mentioned: “Shopper footfall growth in Scotland slipped into decline last month, recording the weakest performance of the year so far.
“That said, Scotland’s performance ranked second overall amongst the 13 parts of the UK that were measured, coming in only behind London.
“Shopping centres and Edinburgh were destinations that both continued to report a modest growth in store visits compared to a year ago, with figures for the latter perhaps swollen by tourism. Glasgow’s foot-traffic nudged down during the month.
“Elevated levels of inflation coupled with recent tax increases are gnawing away at household disposable incomes.
“Whilst it’s tricky to second guess what might happen next to consumer spending and visits to stores, rising mortgage rates and potentially higher taxes to plug gaps in the public finances may weigh further on consumer sentiment.”
Andy Sumpter, retail advisor for Sensormatic Solutions, warned inflation is inflicting shops to see a lower in prospects.
He mentioned: “We saw the far-reaching ripple effect of April’s UK inflation peak taking hold this month, with the three-month rolling average for UK footfall in June dipping down into negative figures (-1.1%) for the first time this year.
“Scottish shopper traffic had managed to hold up in May, before marginally dipping into negative figures in June, as the ongoing cost-of-living pressure continues to impact shopper behaviour and undermine consumer confidence.
“However, with the tide of UK food price inflation looking like it is finally – and albeit slowly – starting to recede, retailers will be looking ahead with cautious optimism to July, and hoping to benefit from ambient footfall from the school holiday period.”
