However, the monitor has indicated that this is below the UK average decline of 18.0% (Yo2Y).

Shopping Centre footfall declined by 29.0% in August (Yo2Y) in Scotland, up from -31.7% in July.

In August, footfall in Glasgow decreased by 20.3% (Yo2Y), a 5.8 percentage point increase from July.

David Lonsdale, director, SRC, said: “Shopper footfall in Scotland continued to improve in a steady if unspectacular way in August, and for a second successive month. That said, footfall is still languishing a fifth down on pre-pandemic levels, with Scotland’s performance weaker than that of the UK as a whole. While the improvement was seen across all retail destinations, it was least pronounced and pretty meagre in shopping centres.

“The sustained weakness in shopper footfall is disconcerting as the hourglass counts down towards what is traditionally retail’s golden quarter prior to Christmas. This is when many retailers generate the revenues required to tide them through the leaner early months in the new year. Retailers are playing their part in trying to tempt shoppers back, however policy makers could consider what more they could do to help galvanise a growth in consumer confidence and entice shoppers back.”

Andy Sumpter, retail consultant EMEA for Sensormatic Solutions, commented: “Bolstered by staycationer shopper traffic and the Back To School boost, August saw footfall recovering to its highest point compared to pre-pandemic levels so far this year. In every UK city we track – including larger cities which have sorely felt the impact of slow returning commuter trade in recent months – showed improved shopper counts, as vaccine confidence won out against the fears and spread of the Delta variant.”

“Sustaining this recovery into the Autumn - and as retailers head towards the critical Golden Quarter of peak trading - is no longer just reliant on maintaining consumer confidence. Getting stock on shelves has always been a given retail imperative.

“But amidst the ongoing disruption to stock availability, exacerbated by both Brexit and covid-19, shoring up supply chains to meet elevated levels of demand, and offering alternative delivery formats like click and collect to ease the burden on the digital fulfilment network, will become even more mission critical if recovery is set to continue.”