Nearly 50 shops close in Glasgow over six month period as online shopping rises again

It's a struggle for workers in retail with nearly a fifth of all trades being done online.

Sauchiehall Street
Published 7th Feb 2020

A huge amount of shops in Glasgow are succumbing to the benefits of online shopping.

A total of 46 were forced to shut their doors for good over six months of the UK Highstreet's worst year in a quarter of a century.

The number of online sales has almost doubled to 21.3 per cent in the last five years and that is expected to reach 30 per cent by 2024.

In total, 53 per cent of all retail sales in the next 10 years are expected to be done online.

Despite nearly three-quarters of shoppers admitting that shopping locally makes them happier, shop owners and managers are concerned about the quiet footfall in the city.

Anne Stewart runs the I love Glasgow souvenir shop on Sauchiehall Street: "Unless you're just giving your stuff away, I don't know what else we can do," she said.

"How can you compete with online shopping?

"I think it's sad when you see people struggling to make a living now.

"If all these shops shut then what will happen to the area here?

"There will be nothing. All the shops can't keep on reopening because everyone feels the effect.

"Online shopping is killing people.

"If people thought 'no I have to go to wherever it is', then that would really help people."

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