SCOTTISH retail sales volumes rebounded in the fourth quarter of last year as consumers took advantage of lower prices, official figures have shown.
However, the rise in sales volumes in Scotland lagged the increase south of the Border.
Seasonally-adjusted figures published by the Scottish Government show that retail sales volumes in Scotland rose by 1.7 per cent quarter-on-quarter in the final three months of 2014. They had fallen by 0.2 per cent during the third quarter.
According to figures published by the Office for National Statistics, retail sales volumes in Great Britain as a whole rose by 2.3 per cent quarter-on-quarter in the final three months of last year.
The Scottish Government figures signal that prices at which retail sales were made were, in the fourth quarter of last year, down by 1.6 per cent overall on the same period of 2013. Shoppers in Scotland, as well as those elsewhere in the UK, showed an appetite for the Black Friday discounting frenzy imported from the US.
David Lonsdale, director of the Scottish Retail Consortium, said: "The resumption of growth in retail sales in the final quarter of last year is encouraging, aided by falling prices at shop checkouts and at petrol pumps."
However, he added: "The recovery in consumer confidence remains fragile...and brings into sharp focus big upcoming public policy decisions which could affect disposable incomes and take-home pay, notably the First Minister's proposed replacement of council tax and the setting of the Scottish rate of income tax. These decisions must support consumer spending and economic growth."
Euan Murray, relationship director in Barclays' corporate banking business in Scotland, said of the retail data: "The extravaganza of planned promotions in November, as well as a last-minute dash in the days before Christmas, provided a boost to the sector resulting in an increase in sales volume in Scotland on both the previous quarter and year-on-year.
"Non-food products such as clothing fared particularly well towards the end of 2014, and now that the spring ranges are on the shelves, fashion retailers will be hoping for milder weather to encourage shoppers to freshen up their wardrobes with the new lines."
The Scottish Government figures showed that retail sales volumes north of the Border in the fourth quarter of last year were up by 1.6 per cent on the same period of 2013. In Great Britain as a whole, retail sales volumes in the final three months of 2014 were up by five per cent on a year earlier.
The value, rather than volume, of Scottish retail sales rose by a rounded 0.8 per cent quarter-on-quarter in the final three months of last year. The Scottish Government figures signal that the prices at which retail sales were made fell by a rounded 0.8 per cent between the third and fourth quarters of last year.
And, comparing the fourth quarter of last year with the same period of 2013, the value of Scottish retail sales was down by a rounded 0.1 per cent.
According to the Scottish Government figures, large retail businesses with at least 250 employees, which account for around 70 per cent of the sector's sales, saw a 0.9 per cent quarter-on-quarter rise in volumes during the final three months of 2014.
Volumes at small and medium-sized stores, which account for the remaining 30 per cent of sales, grew by three per cent.
The Scottish Government said small and medium-sized retail businesses saw a declining trend in sales volumes until the first half of 2012, followed by growth over the last two years.
Large retail businesses, it noted, had shown consistent growth in sales volumes over the five years to 2013. The pace of growth for such businesses had been weaker since the second half of 2013, the Scottish Government said.
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