SCOTTISH retail sales value in April was higher than a year earlier, boosted by the timing of Easter, but the non-food category showed another decline.

Figures published today by the Scottish Retail Consortium show sales value north of the Border last month was up by 2.5 per cent on April 2016. Easter fell in April this year but in March 2016. The value of Scottish retail sales this March had been down 2.1 per cent on a year earlier.

The year-on-year rise in Scottish retail sales value in April was driven by the food category. The value of food sales last month was up by 6.8 per cent on April 2016.

However, the value of non-food sales in April was down by 0.8 per cent on a year earlier.

Craig Cavin, head of retail for accountancy firm and SRC survey sponsor KPMG, said: “Elsewhere, non-food retail sales were disappointing. Despite Easter, sales fell by 0.8 per cent year-on-year. Clearly bargain-hunters seeking big-ticket items like furniture and white goods were not out in force, leaving retailers without the boost they may have expected.”

SRC director David Lonsdale cited “expectations of an unsettled and squally period ahead for consumer demand”.

He added: “There was a further and stark polarisation in the retail sales performance of food and non-food categories. Grocery did well, especially fayre associated with the Easter holiday period. Whilst kids’ schoolwear did reasonably well, spending on items often considered less essential or which come with a larger price tag continued to wilt as shoppers took a more cautious approach.”

The year-on-year rise in Scottish retail sales value in April was well adrift of a corresponding 6.3 per cent increase in the UK as a whole, revealed by the British Retail Consortium.