Scottish retail sales “remain lacklustre” despite clothing rise

Scottish retailers have reported a fall in sales for last month, according to new figures from the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC).

Sales fell year-on-year by 2.9 per cent, with non-food sales dropping 1.5 per cent and food falling 4.6 per cent.

The sales data represented a year-on-year drop for 12th consecutive month.

However, a strong performance was reported by fashion and footwear stores, with clothing sales boosted by the sunniest April for 70 years.

The SRC said that the timing of Easter had had a negative effect on the figures for April as it lost the holiday to March this year.

SRC director David Lonsdale said: “Over a three-month period, which irons out both positive and negative Easter distortions, we find that real term food sales actually recorded their best performance since the start of 2014.

“Over the same period non-food retail sales, once adjusted for the effect of online, mustered growth of 0.7 per cent.

“Clothing, fashion and footwear was the stand-out category once again, with health and beauty products such as sun cream and skincare also doing well.”

He added: “Whilst pay rises across the economy are forecast to continue to outstrip inflation, the fact is that shoppers remain cautious and retail sales remain lacklustre.

“This brings into sharp focus big upcoming decisions which will affect disposable incomes and take home pay, notably the setting of the new Scottish rate of income tax and the proposed replacement of council tax.

“Greater certainty is needed over how the amount of money in people’s pockets and indeed consumer spending more widely will be affected by these changes.”

David McCorquodale, head of retail at KPMG, which helped the SRC compile the data, said: “Although the figures are negatively distorted by the timing of Easter, an assessment of the quarterly figures to April – adjusted for the effect of online – show that the 0.7 per cent growth in Scottish non-food sales has been driven by the fashion and footwear categories.

“Despite plenty of April showers, some with snow, the sunniest April for 70 years helped get spring and summer fashions off to a good start which helped build momentum and, hopefully, margins.”

Mr McCorquodale said he was encouraged by the narrowing gap in non-food growth between Scotland and the UK, but warned that the summer months could be more difficult than last year, when the Commonwealth Games and Ryder Cup boosted retail sales.