Edinburgh shoppers are No1 in contrast to pre-Christmas national slump
Footfall in the capital is up nearly 6 per cent year on year which is the best in the UK
Shoppers in Edinburgh are getting into the festive spirit making the capital the No1 in the UK in the build-up to Christmas
Footfall in city centre shops is up 5.7 per cent - that's as Glasgow's down 4.5 per cent and the national average is a decrease of nearly 1 per cent
data covering the four weeks from October 29 until November 25 showed overall shopper footfall across Scotland remains a sixth lower than prior to the pandemic.
The Scottish Retail Consortium issued a plea for the Scottish Government to "blunt any uplift in the business rate" during the Budget.
David Lonsdale, director of the Scottish Retail Consortium, said: "Shopper footfall to Scotland's retail destinations slipped back slightly in November compared to the same period last year.
"This was the second successive monthly fall in foot-traffic with scant sign pre-Christmas trading has taken off.
"Visits to stores were down by almost 1%, which will disappoint retailers who were hoping for a lift during what is traditionally the second busiest trading month of the year.
"Footfall in shopping centres returned to growth and Edinburgh outperformed. However, overall shopper footfall across Scotland remains a sixth lower than prior to the pandemic.
"These are underwhelming figures, especially for high street retailers operating in more discretionary categories, many of whom will now be hoping for a final flourish to the golden quarter of festive trading to help weather rising costs and to tide them over the traditionally leaner months early in the new year."
Andy Sumpter, retail consultant EMEA for Sensormatic Solutions, said: "November's footfall rallied, buoyed by Black Friday trading and retailers offering extended discounts to spark early Christmas spend.
"Last month, UK footfall recovered to its highest performance levels since July, however, this recent boost to retailers has been driven by price and promotions-sensitive shopping behaviours.
"Discounting events have proved a major draw, with footfall on Black Friday rising plus 52.4% week-on-week for example. We have also seen that improvements in total retail footfall last month were significantly shored up by outlet store visits.
"Undoubtedly, footfall's recovery in November will allow retailers to look ahead to Christmas trading with more confidence, but the challenge will be not just encouraging ongoing spend into December when disposable incomes remain squeezed."