Retail sales in Scotland were down by 1.1% in December 2013, as against 1.5% increase in December 2012, according to the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) and KPMG retail sales monitor December 2013.
Like-for-like sales in the country decreased by 2.9% in December 2013, compared to 0.3% increase in December 2012.
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Considering shop price deflation of 0.8%, the total sales in December were down by 0.3%.
The total food and non-food sales in Scotland were down by 0.3% and 1.7% in December 2013, compared to 1.4% increase and 1.5%decrease in December 2012, respectively.
SRC director David Lonsdale said the overall trend for sales in 2013 was generally positive, however these figures show a small setback in December.
"Scottish consumers have continued to update their wardrobes with new items, and retailers that have offered good ranges have benefitted. There is also some evidence that convenience store formats have done well this month."
"However, in other categories, Scottish sales performance was weaker than in the rest of the UK," Lonsdale added.
KPMG retail head David McCorquodale said the Scottish sales ended a year of recovery on a negative note with extremely competitive market in the food and drink sector and gales in the few days before and after Christmas dampened an otherwise positive year.
"The best performing category was fashion and footwear but the evidence suggests this volume was driven by significant discounting, so retailers will be counting the cost in margin terms once they’ve added all the numbers up," he added.
