Shoppers still not hitting high streets

Slowdown in footfall decline offers glimmer of hope in Scotland

Shopper numbers in Scotland were down lastmonth on a year ago as consumer confidence struggles to lift.

The number of people hitting the shops in March fell 2.1% compared with the same period last year.

The Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) and Springboard footfall monitor recorded an overall rise in the number of UK shoppers, except in Scotland and Wales.

Diane Wehrle, retail insights director at Springboard, said: “Scotland continues to face challenges in increasing customer activity to its retail destinations, with footfall underperforming the UK for the third month in a row.

‘’Of particular concern is the annual decline of 4% in high streets, which is a very different picture from the increase of 2.6% across the UK as a whole.

“And, unlike the UK, footfall in out-of-town locations in Scotland dropped by 0.1% compared with an increase of 3% across the UK as a whole.”

But the report also noted that footfall in shopping centres in Scotland dropped by only 0.1%, whichwasmorefavourable than the 0.5% figure for the UK.

The SRC said that, although the Scottish figures were down, they represented a slowing of the 4.1% decline recorded in February.

Head of policy David Martin said: “We have seen encouraging signs of improvement

“We have seen encouraging signs of improvement in March”

in shopper numbers in March.

“The decline in footfall reported in recent months has slowed significantly. The numbers are moving in the right direction.”

UKshopper numbers increased by an average of 1.8% in March, with consumers favouring out-oftown stores over the high street.

Footfall was up 2.4% in Northern Ireland butdown 2.7% in Wales.

Mr Martin said: “We are still to see much, if any, of the economic recovery translate into higher levels of confidence or propensity to spend in Scotland.

“With Scottish sales figures out next week, retailers will be hoping that improved levels of footfall in March has translated into more transactions and that this momentum can be maintained over the Easter period.”

The footfall monitor gathers data on customer activity in town and city centres and out-of-town stores each month.

High street shops have been particularly badly hit