Scottish footfall plummets - but decline well above rest of UK, as SRC warns creative thinking needed to save high streets
Footfall on Scotland’ s shopping streets plunged by almost 40 per cent last month compared with a year earlier, but remained well above the UK average, new figures have revealed.
A report from the S cottish Retail Consortium (SRC) found that Scottish foot fall decreased by 39.7 per cent in November – an 8.5 percentage point deterioration from October. However, in the UK as a while, the figure plummeted by 65.4 per cent.
The SR C said that weekly footfall has steadily declined over the last four weeks as many parts of Scotland have been in strict er lock down measures, with a sharp drop in the final week of the month when eleven local authorities moving into level four, with all non-essential shops closed.
In Glasgow, which has been in tighter lockdown measures for longer than other parts of the country, year on year footfall decreased by 49 per cent in November, a further 13 percentage point drop from October.
David Lonsdale, director of the Scottish Retail Consortium, said :“Shopper footfall in Scotland plunged last month as Covid restrictions and concerns over the economy exerted their toll. Visits to retail destinations were down by two-fifths on the comparable period last year, the weakest monthly performance since July. Our largest city and retail destination, Glasgow, fared even worse, with shopper numbers at a pal try half the level of last year.
“The decline affected all retail destinations and became more pronounced as the month wore on, as the government’s footfall-crushing local lockdowns came into effect. This shuttered shops in many parts of Scotland for a second time this year.
"Those stores forcibly closed have lost out on the best part of £3 billion of revenues so far this year, after what has truly been an annus horribilis for retail. With local lockdowns set to end and shops in these areas permitted to re - open from 11 December, policy makers need to think more creatively about how they can entice people back to shopping.
"This could be through free parking or a retail voucher scheme like Northern Ireland is implementing to help stores and high streets through the leaner winter months.”