Retail sales in Scotland fall in October
The Scottish Retail Consortium has reported that total sales in Scotland in October were down 0.1% on October 2010, when they had increased 1.4%.
The SRC said that sales in Scotland have declined in three of the last six months with like-for-like sales now 1.5% lower than a year ago.
Food sales were hit hard in the month and showed their largest year-on-year decline since June, on a like-for-like basis. Non-food sales also fell with the SRC pointing out that these have been down on a year ago every month but one this year in Scotland. Clothing, footwear, furniture and homewares also suffered during the month and big-ticket and discretionary purchases continued to be largely deal-driven.
As in the UK, both like-for-like and total sales were worse than in September. Consumer confidence weakened more in Scotland than in the UK and remains below that in the UK.
Commenting on the figures, Ian Shearer, Scottish Retail Consortium director said: “Retailers are still hoping for some festive magic but these gloomy figures are not a good start to the Christmas build-up.
“And life is tougher for retailers in Scotland because households here are generally more concerned about personal finances, jobs and cuts. Scottish consumer confidence is lower and falling faster than elsewhere and retail sales have now performed worse than the rest of the UK for most of this year.”
The SRC called for the Scottish government to refrain from adding the 5.6% inflation increase to business rates bills next April as very few businesses in the region were seeing sales or profits rise on that scale. It also said the government could not expect to impose a supermarket tax without effect, when it would increase the rates of affected stores by a further 22%.
David McCorquodale, head of retail in Scotland, KPMG, said: “From the point of view of the retailers, who employ around 9% of the Scottish workforce, to whatever extent sales are being made, margins and therefore profits and cashflows are being impacted to stimulate demand. The success of the Christmas season for retailers hangs in the balance as October’s results do not set a strong foundation.”
