Early Easter brings 'flicker of hope' for Scottish shops in March, SRC report finds

Trade body welcomes latest performance, but whether improved economic backdrop “translates into a greater propensity to spend in stores remains to be seen”.

Retailers in Scotland received a "flicker of hope” by last month achieving the best shopping traffic since November, an industry body has said.

While shopper footfall fell in March for the sixth consecutive month, the decrease was just 0.9 per cent year on year, compared to a 3.2 per cent fall in February, and better than the UK's average decrease of 1.3 per cent, Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC)-Sensormatic IQ data showed.

They said it was likely that the combination of the early Easter and school holidays "buoyed" foot traffic, but also warned retailers that the "choppy nature" of footfall recovery shows consumer confidence “is yet to fully turn a corner”.

Scottish footfall decreased by 0.9 per cent in March year on year, up from -3.2 per cent in February (file image). Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images.

The figures showed improvements for Edinburgh, with footfall increasing 2.9 per cent year on year, while Glasgow decreased by 1.8 per cent, its best performance since July. Total shopping centre footfall was down by 1.2 per cent last month, 0.1 percentage points better than February. The report comes after the Office for National Statistics last month said inflation rose by 3.4 per cent in the 12 months to February, down from 4 per cent in January, and “well below” its recent peak of 11.1 per cent in October 2022.

SRC director David Lonsdale has now said: "Visits to Scotland's retail destinations fell for a sixth successive month in March, however this decline was small and overall was the least-worst monthly footfall figure witnessed since November. The early Easter and school holidays buoyed foot traffic, providing a flicker of hope for Scottish stores as spring approaches.

"The improvement was felt across all retail destinations. Glasgow had its best performance since last July and Edinburgh recorded a solid month of footfall growth. Shopper footfall and the health of our broader economy is highly dependent on what happens to consumer spending. The continued growth in real wages and easing shop price inflation should help support demand, as should the council tax freeze and cuts in employee national insurance contributions.

"However, whether this translates into a greater propensity to spend in stores remains to be seen. At the same time, retailers themselves have to balance this against their own outgoings, which continue to spiral notably with the above-inflation hike in property taxes." The SRC last month said shops in Scotland were about set to see their annual business rates bills rise by £31 million to a 25-year high.

Andy Sumpter, retail consultant for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa at Sensormatic Solutions, also commented on the report out today, stating: "An early, high-performing Easter helped put a spring in shoppers' steps, and this, combined with a boost from Mother's Day and ambient store visits from school holidays, drove up shopper traffic numbers in March to improve on what was a rather muted footfall performance in February.

"While retailers will have welcomed the seasonal uplift in store visits last month, the choppy nature of footfall recovery we've seen over the past few months indicates that consumer confidence is yet to fully turn a corner, meaning we may see a bumpy recovery in shopper traffic in the months ahead."