SRC-KPMG Scottish Retail Sales Monitor October 2010
Scottish sales growth slows sharply
Like-for-like sales in October were 1.8% lower than in October 2009, when they had risen 1.5%. Sales have now shown a decline in all but two months of 2010. Total sales were 1.4% up on a year ago, when they had risen 4.9%.
Food sales growth slowed to near zero on a like-for-like basis, after two stronger months. Fears about job cuts and incomes gave non-food its worst year-on-year fall since May 2009. Clothing, footwear, furniture and homewares were all down on a year ago. Big-ticket and discretionary items were hardest hit by the weakness of consumer confidence.
Overall like-for-like sales slowed sharply, in contrast to the marginal improvement in the UK. They remained worse than in the UK, where sales were 0.8% up on a year ago. Consumer confidence weakened in Scotland and was still worse than in the UK, where it edged up in October. More concern about public sector job cuts in Scotland has made shoppers more cautious about spending.
