Scotland’s shopping districts welcomed more people last month, new statistics from the Scottish Retail Consortium have shown.
The figures, published today, reveal Scottish footfall numbers were 1.8% higher than the same month last year well ahead of a 1.1% fall across the UK as a whole.
But the increase was a significant reduction on July’s 4.4% jump in numbers, prompted in large part by visitors to Glasgow’s Commonwealth Games.
And July’s spike was not matched by a similar upturn in sales, as further statistics later showed a 1.8% reduction in the amount of cash changing hands.
SRC director David Lonsdale nonetheless described the new survey as “a favourable set of results”.
“For the second month in a row, the number of shoppers visiting Scotland’s high streets and shopping centres is above the level witnessed during the same period last year,” he said.
“Footfall has risen for four of the last five months, though this doesn’t always necessarily translate into increased levels of actual sales.”
Mr Lonsdale called for Government and local authorities to assist in sustaining the rise in visitor numbers, and called for the upcoming Scottish Budget to ensure a competitive environment for investment and more spending on town centre regeneration.