Scottish shoppers have been visiting their local shops more this summer, making the region the only area of the UK where this figure has risen.
So-called footfall in shops rose by 0.2 per cent in Scotland between May and July – a contrast to figures across the rest of the UK, where the number of people visiting the shops dropped by an average of one per cent, BBC Scotland has reported.
The only other UK regions which saw the number of shoppers rise were London and the south-west of England.
Richard Dodd, a spokesman for the Scottish Retail Consortium, said that, although people were buying less when they went shopping, the figures showed "that shopping for a lot of people is a ritual, it is part of their lives and they are still doing that."
But, he added: "Instead of doing one really major shop they are breaking that down into smaller and less costly shopping trips."
