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Scotland hopes for Indian Summer as retailers fight to stay afloat Wednesday, 18th July 2012
Scottish shop sales rose by 1.2 per cent in June compared to figures a year before, although according to the figures released by the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) like-for-like sales showed no sign of growth.
According to the BBC, it’s the 15th consecutive month that Scottish sales growth had fallen behind the UK as a whole, although the discrepancy had narrowed for June.
The report, which was conducted with KPMG, also suggested that big-ticket sales had continued to struggle, with retailers forced to make aggressive promotions in the category to encourage purchases.
SRC economist Richard Lim said: "With shops full of seasonal stock, retailers are hoping a possible Indian summer delivers some salvation.
"Food and drink retailers are faring the best in a weak market but when inflation is taken into account, volumes of sales are likely to have declined.
"There was a boost in the run-up to the Jubilee celebrations as shoppers bought in party foods for the long weekend but it wasn't on the same scale as seen in our UK-wide statistics."
David McCorquodale, head of retail in Scotland for KPMG, said: "Yet again Scotland's retail performance was weaker than the UK as a whole and this cannot be entirely attributed to the nation's reduced appetite for Jubilee celebrations, which provided a fillip to retailers in other regions of the UK.
"A number of factors are combining to make times particularly challenging for retailers and the vast majority are now resorting to heavy and sustained promotional campaigns, which impact negatively on margins, just to tread water," he added.
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Posted in Retail Industry Tagged scotland, shopping, retail, src, kpmg, results, figures, trade, consumer
