Scotland recorded the biggest fluctuations in weekly retail footfall across Great Britain this summer, while also seeing stronger growth than in 2025, a new report has found.
Scotland’s weekly footfall varied by 6.55% on average in summer 2026, compared with 2.54% in England and 4.22% in Wales, according to research from point-of-sale provider Epos Now.
Across June to August as a whole, Scottish retail footfall averaged 5.49% above the 2023 baseline, compared with 2.84% above the baseline during summer 2025.
The research used ONS/BT Active Intelligence weekly footfall figures for June to August 2025 and 2026. It measured both the variation in weekly footfall relative to the summer average and footfall performance against the 2023 baseline used by the ONS.
Jacyn Heavens, CEO at Epos Now, said: “Footfall across retail has seen fluctuations through the summer months caused by extreme heat and seasonal sporting events, however, the number of regions showing growth on the 2023 averages that the ONS benchmark against shows promising hope for highstreets, retail parks and the like. As we move into the golden quarter of the year for retail, it’s important that retailers focus on understanding and using their real time sales data to forecast for the likes of footfall, stock, and staffing.”
Source: Epos Now
