NEWS SPECIAL
COVID-19 UPDATE FOR ALL THE LATEST CORONAVIRUS NEWS, HEAD TO WWW.SLRMAG.CO.UK/CATEGORY/NEWS/
SGF MEMBERS BOOST The growth in popularity of the convenience sector during the pandemic has been reflected in a surge of new
TRADING
£1.9BN OF ‘LOST RETAIL SALES‘ IN SCOTLAND DURING PANDEMIC
corporate members for the
NEW ANALYSIS BY THE SCOTTISH RETAIL CONSORTIUM HAS
Scottish Grocers‘ Federation.
SHOWN THAT RETAILERS IN SCOTLAND LOST ALMOST £2BN IN
These include Calbee, Shoply,
SALES IN THE FIRST FOUR MONTHS OF THE PANDEMIC.
Lincoln Commercial Funding, Ian McLeod Distillers, William Grant and Sons, StaffSafe, GC Thermal Solutions, Too Good to Go and Motor Fuel Group.
SHIELDING PAUSED The Scottish Government has said people who have been advised to shield because of Covid-19 will no longer have to do so from 1 August. The move is a pause and not an end to the practice and Deputy First Minister John Swinney
A new analysis undertaken by the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) and published a month after non-essential shops were permitted to re-open has found that retailers in Scotland lost £1.9bn of retail sales during the first four months of the coronavirus pandemic. Scottish retail sales recorded four successive months of doubledigit decline between March and June. The analysis, based on Scottish Government and SRC data, shows the sheer scale of the retail sales that were lost during this period compared to the same period last year.
The performance of Scottish retail sales improved in June compared to recent months but was still down almost a fifth on the same period last year, and lagged behind that of the UK as a whole. SRC Director David Lonsdale said: “These figures are stark and show that retail sales crumbled over the first four months of the pandemic. Shops and retail jobs depend on the ongoing patronage of the public and whilst the situation is gradually improving, it remains particularly acute in our city centres where stores are suffering huge drops in footfall.”
said that shielding would be reintroduced if necessary.
DRINKING HALVES British shoppers consumed 1.3bn litres of alcohol during lockdown, down from 2bn litres for the same period last year, according to Nielsen. This despite consumers spending £7.7bn on alcohol in supermarkets, £1.9bn more the same time last year.
8 I SLRMAG.CO.UK / ISSUE 15 / WEDNESDAY 29TH JULY 2020
GREGGS PRIORITISES DIGITAL TO COMBAT COVID LOSSES Greggs is to roll out click & collect and delivery services nationwide in the coming months and will transition the 800 outlets that have already re-opened for takeaway only into combined ‘walk in’ and digital services. The move came as Greggs posted a pre-tax loss of £65.2m for the 26 weeks up to 27 June 2020. Like-for-like sales
were down by 49% in the six-month period despite increasing 11.7% in the first nine weeks of 2020. The company said that the digital channels (click & collect, home delivery) will help it serve additional customers in a safe and effective manner while social distancing measures remain in place.
