Scottish footfall decreased by 0.9% in June, 2.5 percentage points worse than May, although this is better than the UK average decrease of 1.9% year-on-year.
The latest Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) and Sensormatic IQ data also showed that shopping centre footfall increased by 3.6% in June in Scotland - 3.7 percentage points worse than May.
In June, footfall in Edinburgh increased by 4.7% year-on-year, while in Glasgow it decreased by 7.2%.
David Lonsdale, director of the SRC, said: “Shopper footfall growth in Scotland slipped into decline last month, recording the weakest performance of the year so far.
“That said, Scotland’s performance ranked second overall amongst the 13 parts of the UK that were measured, coming in only behind London.
“Elevated levels of inflation coupled with recent tax increases are gnawing away at household disposable incomes,“ he continued. “Whilst it’s tricky to second guess what might happen next to consumer spending and visits to stores, rising mortgage rates and potentially higher taxes to plug gaps in the public finances may weigh further on consumer sentiment.”
Andy Sumpter, retail consultant at Sensormatic Solutions, added: “We saw the far-reaching ripple effect of April’s UK inflation peak taking hold this month, with the three-month rolling average for UK footfall in June dipping down into negative figures (-1.1%) for the first time this year.
“Scottish shopper traffic had managed to hold up in May, before marginally dipping into negative figures in June, as the ongoing cost-of-living pressure continues to impact shopper behaviour and undermine consumer confidence.
“However, with the tide of UK food price inflation looking like it is finally - and albeit slowly - starting to recede, retailers will be looking ahead with cautious optimism to July, and hoping to benefit from ambient footfall from the school holiday period.”
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