SCOTLAND'S retailers have bucked the national trend by recording a rise in footfall in December, with Christmas promotions enticing shoppers through the doors.
Footfall was up 1.6 per cent year-on-year, compared with a UK-wide fall of 0.7 per cent, according to the figures from Springboard and the British Retail Consortium.
It is the six month in a row that Scotland has recorded growth in footfall, driven by high streets and retail parks. Shopping centres, in comparison, suffered a 2.1 per cent drop in footfall in December.
Diane Wehrle, retail insights director at Springboard said the popularity of "click and collect" services meant that online purchases were "driving activity back into brick and mortar stores".
David Lonsdale, director of the Scottish Retail Consortium, said it was was a "very creditable end to the year" but he called on local government to make parking more affordable to boost town centre retailers.
He said: "The challenge for retailers as ever is to turn browsing into buying.
"In 2015 policy makers can further assist our town centres by making parking more affordable and accessible and by bringing down the cost of operating commercial premises."
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