Covering the four weeks 02 - 29 August
2026
According to SRC-Sensormatic data:
-
Scottish footfall decreased by 0.1% in August
(YoY), down from 2.7% in
July.
-
Shopping Centre footfall increased by 0.4% in
August (YoY), down from 3.6% in July.
-
Retail Park footfall increased by 2.5% in
August (YoY), down from 3.1% in July.
- In August, footfall in Edinburgh increased
by 0.6% (YoY), while footfall in
Glasgowincreased by 0.3%.
David Lonsdale, Director of the Scottish Retail
Consortium, said:
The summer surge in visits to Scotland's shops stalled in August.
That will come as a bit of a disappointment to retailers after
three consecutive months of growth in shopper footfall. Many
retail destinations eked out a slight uptick in foot-traffic to
stores. Shops on retail parks performed best with a solid 2.5 per
cent growth in visits year on year buoyed by ease of parking, the
mix of leisure and eateries on offer, and range of stores. In
contrast, outlet stores and high streets out-with the major
cities underperformed.
As attention begins to turn to the all-important golden quarter
of trading, the lead up to Christmas, retailers will be looking
at these figures a little nervously. Hopefully, the flatlining
footfall figures are merely temporary. The outlook for consumer
spending is both the biggest opportunity and biggest unknown
facing the economy. Buoyant disposable incomes and confident
consumers are critical to the health of Scotland's retailers.
However, shoppers' propensity to spend is being challenged by
rising household energy bills and near double digit increases in
council tax and water bills. All of this comes as retailers
themselves continue to shoulder a raft of extra tax and
regulatory costs.
Andy Sumpter, Head of Consulting & Analytics - EMEA
for Sensormatic, said:
August saw Scottish retail footfall remain broadly stable, with
total visits down just -0.1% year-on-year. While this represents
a step back from the growth seen over the previous three months,
Scotland continues to outperform the wider UK and remains one of
the more resilient retail markets across the home nations.
Strong performances from both Retail Parks (+2.5%) and retailers
within Shopping Centres (+0.4%) were particularly encouraging,
demonstrating that consumers remain willing to visit retail
destinations despite ongoing pressure on household budgets.
Edinburgh also remained in growth at +0.6%, helping support
Scotland's overall performance.
More broadly, five of the first eight months of 2026 have
outperformed the same period last year, suggesting a degree of
resilience despite the wider challenges facing retail. While
consumer behaviour remains cautious, Scotland continues to hold
firmer ground than many other parts of the UK as retailers look
to convert footfall into meaningful spend during the crucial
months ahead.
MONTHLY TOTAL SCOTTISH RETAIL FOOTFALL (% CHANGE
YoY)
UK FOOTFALL BY LOCATION (% CHANGE YoY)
TOTAL FOOTFALL BY NATION AND REGION
-ENDS-
Methodology:
All figures are calculated using precise shopper numbers entering
retail stores across the UK, whichever destination they are
located.
While High Streets, Shopping Centres and Retail Parks are the
main components of the Total Footfall, there are also additional
categories not included as separate indices. These include
outlets, travel hub locations, and free-standing locations such
as garden centres.
