After January most shops see a slump in sales, which is why it’s so important for shop owners to make as much profit as possible during the Christmas and post-season sales periods. In fact, we have recently seen a number of news stories claiming that retailers across the UK are struggling due to the fact that they have seen a huge reduction in the amount of customers.

Retailers in Scotland have particularly suffered during February, as sales decreased by one percent – a 0.3 per cent increase compared to the year before. Furthermore, like-for-like sales decreased by 2.5 per cent, meaning that not only are shop owners seeing fewer customers but the ones that they are seeing are spending less. Discussing the issue, David Lonsdale, director of the Scottish Retail Consortium, said: “These sales figures confirm that Scottish retailers experienced a challenging February.

“Following the drop in footfall we recorded earlier this week, we have seen total sales falling by 1% and like-for-like sales dropping 2.5%. As in the rest of the UK, we have seen a particularly tough environment in the food market. Margins are under pressure and while the intense competition brings benefits to Scottish consumers in terms of keeping prices low, it can be a challenging environment for the businesses involved.

“It is worth remembering that these results follow a strong start to the year in January and within the overall results there are also some categories that are performing strongly. Footwear in particular is well ahead of the UK average and online and multi-channel sales are also providing a boost for Scottish retailers.” Meanwhile, David McCorquodale, head of retail at KPMG, said: “February saw a reality check on the road to recovery as consumers shunned the economic indicators and refused to loosen the spending belts.

“Total food sales suffered their biggest drop, excluding Easter variations, since our records began in January 1999. The battle lines are well defined in this sector and price cuts announced in March will filter through in future months to the benefit of the consumer, but at a cost to the retailers and their suppliers in terms of margin. In non-food, clothing and footwear had a reasonable mid-season month with the weather wet rather than wintry.

“Adjusting non-food sales for the estimated effect of a more comprehensive set of on-line sales hints at modest growth. Looking forward, wage rate inflation and house price recovery are showing tangible recovery which will in turn be reflected in high street spending. However, the next few months will be dominated by the spotlight being shone on the grocery sector and how that filters through to family budgets.”

In order to improve sales for retailers across the country, mobile operator EE has performed an online survey of two thousand consumers across the UK. They found that sixty three per cent of shoppers would abandon purchases in-store if they have to queue for too long, and that for most, queuing is the worst part of the entire shopping experience. Therefore, EE have created a new piece of software called Connected Retail, which allows shop owners to register when customers enter their store and then send them special offers and discounts to their mobile phones.

The software can also give retailers a better idea of how many customers are in their shop at any given time, and then plan the best way to arrange their check-out staff. Max Taylor, director of corporate business at EE, said: “Consumers are always online, always mobile, shopping on the go. By 2016, 80 per cent of consumers will be using mobile to make informed buying decisions.

“By combining technology with wireless connectivity specifically for use in a retail environment, Connected Retail opens up new possibilities, such as offering spontaneous promotions based on a customer’s location within the store and known buying preferences, or even to set up an instant digital marketplace to provide customers with a choice of competing offers.”

It seems as though in order to realistically compete with online sales, shop owners will soon need to consider investing in new forms of technology in order to improve the buying process in-store. At the moment it is not clear how much this type of technology would cost, however it is likely it will need to be added to your shop insurance policy. However, if it proves beneficial the added costs can be negated by an increase in customers and sales.