Tag Archives: Consumer Confidence

Covid Variants, Retailing and this Christmas

Posted on December 21, 2021 by Leigh Sparks

A couple of weeks ago, I pondered putting together something again about the Christmas 2021 retail season.  Whilst there were strains over supply and labour availability, retailing seemed set for something much more normal. At about the same time, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Boxing Day, Brexit, Christmas, Cities, Consumers, Covid19, Government, Inflation, Internet shopping, Online Retailing, Opening Hours, Pandemic, Retailers, Supply Chains, Town Centres, Towns | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“Soaring Vacancies” : perhaps or perhaps not?

Posted on May 7, 2021 by Leigh Sparks

The end of last week saw headlines about the number of vacant shops in Scotland. Typical Scottish newspaper examples included: The Herald The Scotsman So, something of a downer to end the first week out of lockdown in Scotland and … Continue reading →

Posted in BRC, Consumers, Covid19, Data, Independents, Local Data Company, Lockdown, Online Retailing, Pandemic, Places, Rates, Rents, Retail Change, Retailers, Scotland, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scottish Retail Consortium, Scottish Retailing, Shop Numbers, Shopping, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized, Vacancies | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Great Expectations

Posted on October 26, 2020 by Leigh Sparks

I was not intending to add to my previous two posts on data and reporting (footfall and store openings and closures), but then I saw the coverage (looking at you again in the first instance BBC) of last week’s Scottish … Continue reading →

Posted in BRC, Consumer Change, Consumers, Data, Food Retailing, Non-food retailing, Retail Change, Retail Sales, Retailers, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scottish Retail Consortium, Scottish Retail Sales, Towns, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Confidence, Cash and Friction: Shopping in Scotland

Posted on June 29, 2020 by Leigh Sparks

So, shops (well those not cooped up in an indoor shopping centre) in Scotland are now open. The long road back to re-opening the economy has taken another step forward, and one result is a gigantic queue outside a city … Continue reading →

Posted in Cash, Click and Collect, Consumer Change, Consumers, Convenience, Covid19, Employees, Friction, High Streets, Home Delivery, Internet shopping, Lockdown, Online Retailing, Opening Hours, Queuing, Retail Change, Scotland, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scottish Retailing, Shopping, Shopping Centres, Social Distancing, Town Centres, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Worst Scottish Sales Fall Since at least 1999 – AGAIN

Posted on February 15, 2012 by Leigh Sparks

There comes a point where even I, with my inbuilt Welsh pessimism (except when playing Scotland at rugby), get fed up with the bad news. But here we go again. The Scottish Retail Sales Monitor reporting on retail sales in … Continue reading →

Posted in Consumers, Internet shopping, Retail Economy, Scottish Retail Sales | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Summertime … … … and the retailing is (far from) easy

Posted on July 11, 2011 by Leigh Sparks

You know how it is … you go away for a few weeks and when you come back everything is sort of the same, but well also, sort of different. The British (maybe only Scottish) summer is of course a … Continue reading →

Posted in Consumer Change, Consumers, High Streets, Market Shares, Places, Retail Economy, Retail Failure, Retailers | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Scottish Retail Sales: Hitting the Bottom or Still in Freefall?

Posted on April 20, 2011 by Leigh Sparks

Today’s retail sales figures for March for Scotland (the Scottish Retail Sales Monitor published by the Scottish Retail Consortium) show the worst total sales performance ever measured since the series began in 1999; so much for overdoing the doom and … Continue reading →

Posted in Scottish Retail Sales | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments