The summer heatwave brought the first rise in footfall to Scotland’s shops for more than a year.
The footfall and vacancies monitor by the Scottish Retail Consortium and Springboard, published today, shows footfall grew by 0.5% in Scotland in July, the first increase since May last year.
Footfall on the High Street by 1.8% while there was a decline in customers to retail parks by 1.4% and a fall in shopping centre traffic by 0.5%.
The town centre vacancy rate for Scotland was 10.8% in July, an improvement from 11.2% in April. However, Scotland’s shop vacancies remained above the average vacancy rate for the UK, which remained unchanged at 9.2%.
Ewan MacDonald-Russell, Scottish Retail Consortium’s head of policy and external affairs, said: “Scotland’s shops finally saw customer footfall rise after over a year of decline.
“This welcome increase was driven by a jump in shoppers visiting the High Street and is a positive sign after a difficult winter.
“There was also a fall in the town centre vacancy rate but regrettably Scottish town centres are still in a worse position than the UK average.
“Retailers will welcome the slight improvement in both measure, albeit recognising the improvement is from a low base.”
Mr MacDonald-Russell said that despite the positive result for retailers in July, “structural challenges” in the industry remain.
“Consumers continue to choose to shop online, and it’s clear for many bricks and mortar retailers the best approach is to continue to invest in multi-channel operations,” he said.
“That process would be eased if Government, at both Holyrood and Westminster, would look to reduce the burdens currently hampering the industry.
“Growing the economy, minimising costs to consumers, and supporting retailers as they invest in skills and technology are all essential to allow the industry to transition in as sustainable a manner as possible.”
Meanwhile levels of investment in Scotland’s commercial property hit a record high, according to JLL’s capital markets review
A record £1.4 billion was invested between January and June, a 86% increase on the same period in 2017 and well above the UK average volume growth of 23%.
Edinburgh accounted for almost half the total, with £692 million spent, while Glasgow saw £344m worth of transactions. The largest deals were for Edinburgh’s Fort Kinnaird Retail Park (£167m) and Waldorf Astoria hotel (£85m).