THE value of Scottish retail sales in August was down by 2.2 per cent on the same month of 2015, the latest industry figures show, although the year-on-year pace of decline in the food category slowed sharply.
In line with the pattern in recent years, the year-on-year movement in retail sales value was worse in Scotland than in the UK as a whole. The British Retail Consortium has reported that UK retail sales value last month was down 0.3 per cent on last August.
The SRC has noted the boost to overall UK retail sales from a stronger housing market and economic performance in London and south-east England.
Clothing and footwear sales were particularly weak in Scotland in August, even though the weather was fairly average for the time of year, the SRC figures show.
The value of food sales in Scotland in August was down by 0.3 per cent on the same month in 2015. In July, food sales north of the Border were down by 1.6 per cent on a year earlier. But the year-on-year fall in non-food sales accelerated to 3.7 per cent in August, from 1.9 per cent in July.
The year-on-year drop in Scottish retail sales value accelerated to 2.2 per cent in August, from 1.8 per cent in July, and 1.4 per cent in June.
David McCorquodale, Edinburgh-based head of accountancy firm and SRC survey sponsor KPMG’s UK retail sector practice, cited the possibility of “more prolonged post-Brexit blues in Scotland” when the sales figures for July were published last month.
Commenting on today’s figures for August, he said: “Clothing and footwear experienced a sluggish performance despite the weather being fairly average for the month. It is beginning to feel like a combination of changes in consumer psychology, the lure of other leisure activities and experiences, and perhaps a lack of inspiration in the fashion world are impacting momentum and growth in this sector.”
SRC director David Lonsdale said: “Retail sales performance in Scotland was uninspiring last month.”
Referring to the forthcoming Scottish Budget, he added: “Ministers should be wary about adding to the pressure on household disposable incomes at a time when consumer confidence remains fragile.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel