Retailers seek consumer boost as footfall and vacancies wilt 

Scottish Retail Consortium data for the period covering last month shows growth lay below the three-month average of -2.1 per cent and below the twelve-month average of -0.2 per cent.

Footfall on Scottish High Streets declined to 4.9 per cent, the highest decline since April 2016 (9.1 per cent).

Footfall also declined in retail parks (-1.3 per cent) for the first time in 9 months. and Shopping Centres continued their decline the tenth consecutive month.

The Vacancy rate for Scotland was 10.5 per cent above the (weighted) national average of 9.3 per cent.

David Lonsdale, SRC Director | Scottish Retail Consortium said: “This a somewhat dreary set of results. Scotland’s shop vacancy rate has spiked and pierced 10 per cent for the first time in over two and a half years, whilst shopper footfall flagged once again and fell for a sixth consecutive month. Footfall shrivelled across all three shopping destination types – high streets, shopping centres and retail parks – and at a pace faster than witnessed over the past quarter as a whole. Shop vacancies have risen over the past two years and is a cause of growing concern, with Scotland’s vacancy rate now sitting above the UK average.

“With the clock ticking down towards the Chancellor’s UK Budget and the Finance Secretary’s Scottish Budget, retailers will be looking for convincing action to lift consumer spirits at a time when higher inflation and costs are eroding household spending power. The industry will also be looking for concrete action to stem the relentless rise in government-inspired cost pressures affecting firms, beginning with the projected 4 per cent rise in business rates which is on the cards for April and which will only make it even more expensive to operate physical stores.”

Diane Wehrle, Marketing and Insights Director | Springboard said: “October delivered a black trading cloud for Scotland ahead of the Christmas sales storm; not only was the -3.3 per cent drop in footfall the worst result for October since 2011 when it declined by -9.4 per cent, but it was also higher than the result for the month of October in the previous three years which ranged between +0.5 per cent and -0.1 per cent.

“The signs of the gathering cloud have been evident in footfall trends for a while; with October’s result leading to the longest period of continual decline since November 2015. And a drop in footfall during retail trading hours of 7.4 per cent in high streets - alongside daytime drops in footfall of 2 per cent in shopping centres and -1.1 per cent in retail parks - provides definitive evidence of consumers tightening their purse strings.

“It is unsurprising therefore that the vacancy rate in Scotland has risen once again, and at 10.5% it has now returned to the level it was in July 2015. This contrasts sharply with the rate of 9.3 per cent across the UK which dropped from 9.6% last quarter. However, it is critical not to read too much into an improvement in the vacancy rate, as this is a trend that has occurred over the last few years as landlords fill empty stores with temporary lettings in the run up to Christmas. And with possibly another two interest rate rises on the horizon these results suggest that Black Friday, and the subsequent Christmas sales storm, will be typified by consumers battening down the hatches.”