The head of a retail trade body is asking the Scottish Government to think “creatively” in a bid to entice shoppers back to the high streets.
It comes as the Northern Ireland administration revealed its £145 million high street stimulus scheme, which will see a £100 pre-paid card given to every adult to be used in shops and hospitality establishments throughout the country.
David Lonsdale, Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) director, has called for something similar to be considered for Scotland as a means of reigniting consumer spending and transactions.
The SRC said it has suggested the scheme several times previously, first in their Scottish Budget submission in late October and again in SRC’s post-Scottish Budget paper earlier this year.
Reignite consumer confidence
Mr Lonsdale said: “The pandemic and associated lockdowns and restrictions have weighed on consumer demand.
“Shopper footfall is down by over a quarter, shop vacancies have leapt, and Scottish stores have missed out on £4.5 billion of revenues over the past seventeen months.
“Scotland’s shops will only survive with the patronage of the public. Retailers are playing their part in trying to tempt shoppers, but policy makers here need to think more creatively too about how they can reignite consumer confidence and entice Scots back to our retail destinations.
“This could be through temporary free parking or an advertising campaign to encourage people back to city centres, or a high street voucher scheme like NI is introducing.
Scotland’s shops will only survive with the patronage of the public.”
David Lonsdale, SRC director
“A voucher scheme could play a valuable role in enticing shoppers back and getting our economy firing again, triggering additional spending by shoppers beyond the value of the voucher transaction and creating an even larger economic multiplier.”
Doubts over future of trading
A statement from the SRC said shopper footfall has plummeted, store vacancies have spiked, and retail sales have yet to claw their way back to pre-pandemic levels some seventeen months after the onset of Covid.
The true scale of the crisis facing the retail sector in Aberdeen was laid bare after it was confirmed the John Lewis department store will not reopen in the city centre.
Shops remain unable to trade at capacity due to physical distancing, and questions remain over what customer demand will look like for the remainder of the year.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said it has launched a £10m “Scotland Loves Local” loyalty card scheme as well as an investment programme to support town centres.
In a statement, the spokesperson said: “We recognise the important role town centres have for our economic, social and environmental wellbeing, and have committed £10 million to a Scotland Loves Local (SLL) programme to help revitalise town centres hit by the pandemic by building wealth in local communities.
“Through our national SLL marketing campaign, people are recognising the importance of their local areas by thinking local first and safely supporting businesses in their communities.
“We recently launched a national platform for SLL loyalty card schemes, a quick and efficient way to encourage spend and kick start sales growth in our local economies – the first of its kind on a national scale. Businesses can get on board now through lovelocal.scot and the scheme will launch for consumer purchase in the autumn.
“Our ‘Place Based Investment Programme’, backed with a five-year commitment of £325 million, and delivered in partnership with COSLA will also support the recovery of town centres and community regeneration.”
Gordon Lyons, Northern Ireland economy minister said: “This scheme is a key element of my department’s economic recovery action plan and will give a very welcome boost to our high streets which were hard hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“This uplift is what our local businesses need and deserve.”
Jersey and Malta have already introduced similar schemes to pep up their economies during Covid.