Period covered: March 19Published: April 17, 2019Read time: 1min

Scottish Retail Sales Monitor

Scottish Sales Rebound in March

David Lonsdale, Director, Scottish Retail Consortium:

“Scottish retail sales were resilient in March despite Easter falling in April this year. Although there was a real-terms fall of 0.6 percent, high street retailers saw some positive growth and there is cause for cautious optimism looking ahead with Easter and school holidays to be factored in to April.

“Food sales were essentially flat, due to a combination of Easter falling in April and continued food price inflation. In essence volumes were down but that was offset by the higher value of sales as retailers have to pass on a portion of their increased costs to consumers.

“Non-food sales were up by 1.3 percent, despite consumer uncertainty continuing to impact on large discretionary purchases.  Nonetheless smaller home purchases did well in the month, with DIY and gardening products selling well as Scots looked to improve their homes. Mother’s Day was more mixed, with good sales of jewellery and watches being offset by weaker performance in beauty products.

“Overall retailers will be relieved trading was better than last year, and there was no repeat of the ‘Beast from the East’. April will now be an important month, with Easter sales providing an opportunity to encourage consumers to spend on both food and non-food goods.”

Paul Martin, UK Head of Retail, KPMG:

“Total sales in Scotland grew by 0.3 per cent in March compared to the same period last year, and while this is below the three and twelve-month averages, it reflects a much brighter picture than the UK as a whole, where total sales fell by 0.5 per cent.

“The month started strongly compared to last year, when shoppers were forced to stay indoors by the Beast from the East, but sales quickly dropped as the weeks passed.

“Nevertheless, March bucked the usual trends. Non-food items performed much better than recent months, increasing by 1.3 per cent when adjusted for online purchases, whereas food sales declined by 0.2 percent as a result of Easter 2018 distorting last year’s figures.

“March may have provided breathing space for retailers but the path to success is not smooth and businesses will need to remain agile in a changing landscape.”