Scottish footfall plummeted in January lockdown

The number of people on Scotland’s high streets and in shopping centres decreased at a faster rate than in the rest of the UK, falling by by 72.5 per cent in January, according to new figures from the Scottish Retail Consortium.

Footfall on Scottish high streets and shopping centres plummeted in January as lockdown measures were brought in.

Footfall plummeted a 22.3 percentage point from December, taking the overall decline for last month above the UK average decline of 76.9 per cent.

New, more stringent lockdown regulations were brought in on Boxing Day in Scotland, requiring all non-essential shops to shut with immediate effect.

In Glasgow, footfall decreased by 75.5 per cent in January, a worsening of 15.7 percentage point from December. Meanhwile, Scottish Shopping Centre footfall decreased by 76.5 per cent in January, less of a decline than the UK average shopping centre footfall decline of 78.2 per cent.

David Lonsdale, director of the Scottish Retail Consortium, said: “Footfall nosedived last month, down almost three quarters on the same period a year ago, as shoppers heeded the government’s order for people to stay home. It was the worst month for shop visits since last May, and was witnessed across all retail locations, unsurprising with shoppers really only able to go to pharmacies and food and pet supply stores and with click and collect and food-to-go takeaway curtailed by fresh restrictions from the middle of the month."

Andy Sumpter, retail consultant for ShopperTrak, which co-authored the report, said: “With the first full month of a new national lockdown, January certainly won’t have been the start to the year retailers were hoping for, as once more they had to shut up shop and inevitably footfall plummeted.”

He added: “But while it’s easy to let shuttered stores paint a bleak picture for the future of the High Street - with many retailers now having faced almost a full year of store re-openings and closures as waves of covid-19 have ebbed and flowed - it’s important to remember that when retail has reopened from lockdown, demand for in-store shopping has returned each time.

The region which saw the largest fall in footfall was Wales, where footfall fell 79.1 per cent in January, compared with the same time the previous year.

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