Retail sales worst for six months

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/scotland/8414653.stm

Version 0 of 1.

The latest sales figures for Scotland have shown they grew at a slower rate in November than the rest of the UK.

The Scottish Retail Consortium said total sales were up by 2.8% and like-for-like sales which do not take into account any new shops fell by 0.6%.

In the same period, total UK sales grew by 4.1% with like-for-like up 1.8%.

The consortium said that shops were hoping for a good Christmas but it would be difficult to make up the ground lost in November.

The accountants, KPMG, which sponsors the survey, said retailers made extra efforts to try to tempt shoppers to spend.

David McCorquodale of KPMG said: "The grocers ran value lines and promotions; clothing firms ran heavy discounts and special sales days; and furniture businesses promoted pre-Christmas delivery guarantees to boost sales but in all instances the customer focussed on necessity rather than non-essential purchases."

The mood is generally more confident than last year. Many retailers will be quietly hopeful of a better performance than they might have expected six months ago Richard DoddScottish Retail Consortium

The report said the weather in November did not help entice people to the shops.

The high rainfall kept people indoors and the mild temperatures stopped them from splashing out on warmer winter clothes or boots.

Homeware sales also suffered although discounting helped flooring shops with the consortium saying there was some uplift in rugs.

Although the November figures looked bleak, the consortium said they were better than they seemed.

It said Scottish retailers were not as badly affected by turmoil in the financial industry and therefore has not as far to climb to recovery.

Richard Dodd of the Scottish Retail Consortium said: "The mood is generally more confident than last year. Many retailers will be quietly hopeful of a better performance than they might have expected six months ago."