March sees Scottish shop sales fall

Scottish retailer saw sales down in March overall, according to latest industry figures.

The latest SRC-KPMG monitor shows a mixed month with total sales for the five weeks to 2 April 1.3 per cent lower than the same period last year.

However, the non-food category saw household goods such as furniture and flooring doing well.

But fashion and footwear registered its worst decline since May last year.

The report said that fall was influenced by the early Easter.

David Lonsdale, director, Scottish Retail Consortium, said: “While it’s disappointing to see Scottish retail sales chalk up another month of decline, we did fare better than the rest of the UK in March which suffered a much deeper slowdown in sales.

“However, Scotland’s retailers did see an increase in sales of non-fashion-non-food items. This aligns with a slight increase in reported consumer confidence. Customers, it seems, are feeling increasingly ready to invest in larger items and homewares. Food and clothing sales were both negative and likely impacted by the very early Easter which will have distorted shopping patterns.

“In brighter news, food and non-food were both above the three-month average and, once adjusted for the effect of online sales in Scotland, non-food sales saw a healthy increase of 1.2 per cent.

“So March was a mixed month for Scotland’s retailers. As we look toward the elections to the Scottish Parliament it’s vital that, whomever forms the next government, they don’t add to the thicket of red tape and taxes levied on retailers and that they act to strengthen what appears to be a nascent recovery in consumer confidence.”

David McCorquodale, Head of Retail, KPMG said: “Sales for the home rather than the self continue to lead the way for retail’s fight for share of consumer spending. Total non-food sales, adjusted for online, increased by 1.2% in March, with the best performance being on household items such as furniture and flooring as well as larger electrical items. The fashion and footwear segments were the worst performers, suffering from the inclement weather normally associated with an early Easter, and will now be looking for a strong spell of late Spring sunshine.

“The grocery sector remains a contested battleground as deflation, competitive market forces and changes in shopping habits, all combine to play into the hands of the consumer – with a detrimental effect on the grocer.

“Looking forward, with the implementation of the National Living Wage now in force, retailers will be looking hard at their own productivity and hoping the extra pennies in the hands of the country’s workforce will flow their way back into the tills. The fight for share of the consumer’s wallet remains a tough one for retailers as shoppers seek experience and enjoyment in other sectors.”