Scottish retailers outperformed the entire UK over Christmas, posting their strongest sales growth in nearly a year, according to new figures.
December sales totals from the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) confirm yet another month of growth for Scotland’s high streets, again besting the total UK rate of growth despite the country’s late upswing.
“Many retailers will be heartened by the positive growth in sales during December, a fitting culmination to a year that saw Scottish retail growth consistently outstrip that of the UK,” said Fiona Moriarty, director of the SRC.
“Those retailers who tapped into what consumers wanted, got their range and mix of products right and most importantly got the price right, did very well. Retailers will now be hoping that this positive consumer sentiment will continue into 2006, despite the anticipated challenging outlook for the first quarter.”
Like-for-like sales grew by 3.8% on the year in December, up from 1.6% in November, marking its strongest rate of growth since last February.
Meanwhile, total sales grew by 7.3%, up from 4.4% in November and the highest recorded since July.
Growth was driven by a strong performance in non-food sales, particularly clothing and footwear.
However, shop owners did benefit from an extra Saturday of trading included in the data, the SRC admitted.
