Scottish shops struggle in poor weather

Scotland's retailers have blamed poor weather and a decline in consumer confidence for a fall in sales.

The figures for June were down 1.7% compared with the same month in 2014, according to the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC).

June 2014 had seen a 1.1% decline on the previous year.

The SRC identified a "significant gap" in confidence between Scotland and the rest of the UK, exaggerated by a disappointing Scottish summer.

One bright spot was travel products, as people prepared for holidays in warmer places.

The figures from the SRC are produced in collaboration with analysts KPMG.

Its head of retail David McCorquodale said: "Scotland's mixed weather and declining consumer confidence held back retail sales throughout June as retailers drove volume through heavy promotions.

"Whilst the rest of the UK enjoyed more settled weather and strong sales growth, Scotland's tills were rather more muted this month.

"That said, when adjusted for online sales, non-food sales showed their strongest growth since November last year."

He added: "With many positive economic indicators emanating around employment, wages and housing, Scottish retailers will be keen to see these working their way to the High Street before they themselves face the increased costs introduced by the summer Budget."

SRC head of policy David Martin said: "Online purchases really drove non-food sales in June, with the best performance for over six months.

"Some of this success will have been at the cost of retailer margins as end-of-season sales were brought forward to offset a disappointing sales performance in May.

"Nonetheless, consumers did respond well to retailers getting the offer right, particularly on clothing and footwear, whilst online provided greater visibility of stock availability and more opportunity to compare promotions."

Mr Martin pointed to a divergence between market conditions in Scotland and those in the rest of the UK.

"Although non-food purchases performed comparatively better in June, consumer confidence slipped back in Scotland, opening up a significant gap in confidence north and south," he said.