This is above the UK average decline of 27.7% (Yo2Y).

The data also revealed that shopping centre footfall declined by 33.0% in May (Yo2Y) in Scotland, up from -59.0% in April. In April, footfall in Glasgow decreased by 23.1% (Yo2Y), a 28.7 percentage point improvement from April.

David Lonsdale, SRC director, said: “The recovery in shopper footfall gathered momentum in the first full month that shops were able to open and trade since Scotland’s lockdown was lifted in late April. The unleashed pent-up demand saw marked improvements in footfall right across the board.

“That said, visits to retail destinations still languished a quarter lower than during the comparable period two years ago. Unsurprisingly, the footfall gains in Glasgow tailed off towards the latter stages of the month, as tougher Covid restrictions affecting travel into and out of the city were introduced.

“Reopening alone has yet to prove a magic bullet for our hard-pressed retail industry, the country’s largest private sector employer, which remains unable to trade at capacity due to physical distancing and caps on the number of customers in stores.”

He continued: “Without a rebound in footfall and increased demand, many retailers will struggle to make ends meet, placing a question mark over the viability of stores and jobs and the vitality of our retail destinations.

“Retailers are playing their part in trying to tempt shoppers, but policy makers need to think more creatively too about how they might reignite consumer confidence, entice people back into our retail destinations, and kick-start demand – through a clear plan for the safe return of office workers, and perhaps through free parking, or a voucher scheme to encourage customers to the shops as is planned for Northern Ireland.”

Andy Sumpter, retail consultant EMEA for Sensormatic Solutions, commented: “May saw a slow but steady recovery for the High Street as shoppers continued to return to bricks-and-mortar stores. The improved shopper counts will have been helped by the reopening of indoor hospitality, which helped drive ambient footfall as consumers combined store visits with leisure and socialising.

“While still down compared to pre-pandemic levels, we’ve seen cautious but consistent improvement to footfall with each passing month as society unlocks and the vaccine roll-out continues at pace, giving retailers a cause for cautious optimism. However, the prospect of a sustained recovery is still very much hanging in the balance, with variants of concern and an uptick in infection rates threatening to undermine consumer confidence.”