The number of people shopping in Scotland has continued to fall, although the rate of decline does appear to be slowing.
The October figures from the SRC/Springboard Footfall and Vacancies Monitor showed footfall numbers to be 0.6% lower a year ago, better than the 0.8% decline in September and August’s fall of 1.5%. This means Scotland performed worse than the UK as a whole however, as national footfall for October was 0.2% lower than a year ago, unchanged from September.
Diane Wehrle, Marketing and Insights Director at Springboard, said: ‘’October is fast becoming an important ‘look and compare’ month for shoppers ahead of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which is driving up footfall across all retail destinations.”
The vacancy rate in Scotland was 8.7%, a sharp fall from the 10.6% rate in the previous quarter, providing a “welcome glimmer of light” for David Lonsdale, Director of the Scottish Retail Consortium, after three successive quarters of deterioration. Whether or not this develops into a sustained improvement in shop vacancy rates or reflects retail units being taken up on a temporary basis in the run up to the Christmas remains to be seen.
“With the clock firmly ticking down towards the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement and Finance Secretary’s Scottish Budget in a few weeks’ time, retailers’ will be looking for convincing action to bolster consumer confidence and also stem the relentless rise in government-inspired cost pressures,” Lonsdale added.
