High street loses out to online in late festive rush

THE number of shoppers on Scottish high streets has continued to fall as improvements to delivery services mean even the last-minute rush for Christmas gifts has moved online.

Better delivery services by stores and digital retailers meant many people preferred to shop online for their gifts, with the high street suffering the most in the annual fight for customers throughout December.

The British Retail Consortium said that tightened purse-strings also meant many shoppers preferred to carry out research online, rather than heading to stores to browse.

In the latest health check on footfall, Scotland saw a sharp decline of 4.7 per cent – the largest since April 2016, when there was a drop of 6.2 per cent.

It was one of the worst performers across the UK, alongside the South West at 5.2 per cent and Greater London at 3.7 per cent.

Overall across the UK, there was an average decrease of 3.5 per cent – the biggest decline since March 2013, when it dropped by 5.2 per cent.

The high street suffered the worst of the retailers, with a fall by 4.6 per cent on the previous year, while there was a decline of 3.8 per cent for shopping centres.

However, there was better news for retail parks, which only fell by 0.6 per cent in December.

Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said that while sales grew overall, the sharp drop in footfall underlines how shopping is being transformed by the shift to online.

She added: “In the past, shoppers would have exclusively visited physical stores to ensure stockings were filled for Christmas. Improved delivery options by both purely digital retailers and those with stores and an online offer mean many purchases of last-minute gifts are moving online.”

She said the “squeeze on discretionary spending” also contributed to the decline in footfall.

Ms Dickinson added: “Households had to use their money more carefully, researching products online, rather than heading out to stores to browse.

“Retail parks fared slightly better than high streets by providing Christmas shoppers with the draw and convenience of parking, easy click-and-collect, and leisure facilities.”

Diane Wehrle, marketing and insights director at Springboard, which prepared the data, said retailers need to focus on delivering the “best product and customer service with an improved in-store experience, whilst holding their nerve and resisting discounting too early and so protecting margin”.

As well as falling high street customer numbers, many high street retailers have felt the brunt of rising business rates, with this coming year’s rates confirmed at 3.9 per cent.

The Great Rates Revolt campaign run by The Herald last year highlighted the potentially devastating effects of rates revaluation on businesses and the economy, leading to a rethink by the Scottish Government and a £45 million package to ease the burden of the new rateable values.