Shopping centres and retail parks experienced growth, with retail parks showing a particularly strong performance, up 5.7%. Edinburgh and Glasgow also saw increased footfall, reversing some of December’s negative trends.

Ewan MacDonald-Russell, deputy head of the Scottish Retail Consortium, said: “Scottish shoppers braved the wintry weather to come out to Scotland’s retail destinations in slightly greater numbers than the previous year as shopper footfall increased by one percent in January.

“The modest rise is welcome, albeit other parts of the UK, which faced fewer storms and red weather alerts, saw a stronger performance. That will leave retailers hopeful there may be a little deferred expenditure to come in February.

“Scotland’s cities outperformed the national average, with footfall in Glasgow increasing by 1.9 percent and in Edinburgh by 2.8 percent; in both cases reversing some pretty disappointing results in December. Retail parks performed very well, with a 5.7 percent increase.

“Winter and frigid conditions continue to take a toll on physical retailers, with shoppers understandably staying at home. Whilst the figures were an improvement on December, with spending traditionally much lower this month it won’t offset the disappointing golden trading quarter. Retailers will hope there are sunnier skies ahead.”

Andy Sumpter, retail consultant EMEA for Sensormatic Solutions, commented: “After a dreary December, retailers will welcome January’s footfall jump.

“The uptick was boosted by a very strong week 1, helped in part by New Year’s Day falling on a Wednesday, which may have prompted ambient store traffic as consumers bolted on additional days of leave, as well as retailers extending post-Christmas discounting well into January. Not even the significant disruption from Storm Eowyn was enough to dampen overall footfall performance.

“While welcome, after months of erratic and constrained footfall, the jury’s out as to whether January’s store performance signals the start of a sustained High Street revival or if it will be a flash in the pan come February. And, even if shopper traffic recovery has finally turned a corner, the challenge for retailers will be solving the next conundrum; how they balance enhanced footfall – which requires optimised store staffing to convert into sales – and the significant rises to labour costs borne out of the Budget on the one hand, with consumer appetite for discounts – a long-term margin-eroder – on the other, which will not be an easy circle to square.”