SHOPPERS in Scotland are increasingly picking up their goods at retail parks

But while the country's retail parks are doing brisk business, the high street is finding it increasingly tough to attract shoppers.

The latest SRC-Springboard Footfall Monitor found the Scottish retail market had out-performed that of the rest of the UK but still failed to attract as many shoppers as last year.

Footfall in Scotland last month fell by 1.5 per cent, when compared to the previous August, but for places such as Northern Ireland and Wales, the decrease was as great as 2.4 per cent.

At the same time, high street footfall in Scotland fell by 3.6 per cent while, shopping centres fell by 4.9 per cent.

According to Diane Wehrle, marketing and insights director at Springboard, the decline of Scotland’s overall numbers is softened, in part, due to the “inexorable rise” of retail parks, which enjoyed an eight per cent increase for August.

She said: “Retail parks in Scotland are significantly outperforming the UK average, with a continuous increase over the past 17 months and an average uplift of 7.6 per cent in 2015 compared with two per cent across the UK."

Ms Wehrle also added that as the recent Bank Holiday weekend finished up in September, there is likely to a "bounce-back" in figures for next month.

David Lonsdale, director of the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC), was encouraged by the latest figures but added that more could be done to curb the decline of high street shopping.

He said: “Footfall in Scotland’s retail destinations eased down once again in August, albeit at a slower pace than witnessed over recent months. The performance was better than the three-month average, and ought to be seen in the context of a tough comparable during the same period last year.

“What is clear is that weak demand coupled with rising cost pressures is making life challenging for a number of retailers, many of which are revamping their businesses in order to respond to the profound changes in the way we are all shopping.

“Lots of empty units can put off shoppers and so it is crucial that more is done to drive vacancies down, and the public sector can play its part by removing or reducing barriers which can stifle investment in retail destinations.”

Retail parks continue to grow with the likes of Silverburn, and Fort Kinnaird in Edinburgh expanding their sites and welcoming new stores.

The Fort in Glasgow is also upgrading its parking facilities by a quarter following the opening of Marks & Spencers, Fat Face and Wagamama.

Shopping Centres in Scotland have also seen significant investment in recent years, with major refurbishments at Glasgow’s Buchannan Galleries and St James Quarter in Edinburgh.

Recently, ambitious plans to redevelop Aberdeen’s Union Square were also put forth by owners Hammerson.

The bid was said to cost around £200million and could create as many as 1,000 retail jobs in the city.

However, high streets continue to decline and last month, the SRC urged the Scottish Government to overhaul business rates in order to keep more doors open.

Earlier this year, the Scottish Government set up a commission to investigate the replacement of council tax and the SRC hope it will also look at local business rates.

Meanwhile, the Scottish Government also said it would not give up on high street retail and say around 96,000 businesses in Scotland already benefit from paying “zero or reduced” rates.

A Scottish Government spokesman added: “Our town centres should be attractive focal points for the community and we have invested heavily in transforming them in recent years, including through a £60 million town centre regeneration fund to help breathe new life into those which needed revitalising.

“Together with local councils, we have also taken forward a Town Centre Action Plan, and have provided funding to help bring empty town centre properties brought back into use.”?