Scottish shop vacancy rates edged up to 9.3% in July from 9.2% in April, but remained below the 9.6% for the UK as a whole.
Separate data revealed a decline in footfall of 0.4% in July, reflecting a 0.6% decline in the number of visits to high street stores and a 2.2% drop in visits to shopping centres. In contrast, visits to retail parks rose by 2.1%.
Retailers and shopping destinations are clearly going to have to work harder to attract custom through a blend of improvements including service, ranges and pricing, the head of policy and external affairs at the Scottish Retail Consortium, Ewan MacDonald-Russell, said.
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