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Decline in Scottish retail figures survey reveals

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By The Drum Team, Editorial

February 16, 2011 | 2 min read

Scottish retail figures have fallen over the last year, as consumers ‘tightened their belt’ during the economic downturn, a survey has found.

The survey from The Scottish Retail Consortium has found that sales fell by 0.9% over the past 12 months, while the sale of food also fell in the last year by 1.4% with the severe winter experience by the country in December being partly to blame for people hoarding.

Fiona Moriarty, director of the Scottish Retail Consortium, said: "People enjoyed themselves over Christmas but cut back once the New Year got under way.”

She added "There was some last-minute spending at the start of January to take advantage of promotions and to beat the VAT rise, but consumers then tightened their belts. Shoppers were able to use up stocks of food they'd built up in their cupboards during December's snow and, as a result, needed to buy less.

"Festive treats were quickly replaced by core basics as shoppers budgeted more carefully and switched to healthy-eating plans. Consumers were willing to buy practical cold weather items such as duvets but reluctant to splash out on non-essential items.

"January's fall in like-for-like spending marks the start of a potentially difficult trading period for retailers."

Other factors blamed for the fall in sales is concern over job losses and personal finance.

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