The retail industry is still attempting to recover after several long years of administrations, falling profits and rock bottom consumer disposable incomes. While the struggles are by no means over yet, glints of hope such as an increase in high street footfall and the rescue of stricken chains such as HMV and Jessops indicate that there is indeed a light at the end of the tunnel.
Now Experian has revealed the UK’s retail centres best placed to survive until the end of this economic downturn using a brand new retail rankings tool.
Unsurprisingly, city centres overwhelmingly dominated the top ten, with London’s West End, Princes Street in Edinburgh and Cardiff all appearing in the top five. However, high street campaigners will be delighted to know that the categories of Town Centre and Large Town Centre also appeared frequently – and that only two malls appeared in the list.
Westfield London can be found at number four on the table, with the Trafford Centre squeezing in at number 9. While they are by no means city centre retail attractions, their success could potentially be attributed to their proximity to large population centres London and Manchester.
The ranking tool, known as Retailscape, assesses a retail centre’s market potential based on a number of factors. These include the affluence of the catchment area it is found in, the average retail spend by consumers in the area and, finally, whether local consumers spend more in-store or online.
Yet when this set of results is compared to the expenditure scale – the traditional means of determining the success of a retail centre – there are some very obvious differences. Town centres and malls disappear almost entirely, with the top ten dominated by city centres such as Manchester, Bristol, Glasgow, Liverpool and Leeds.
In fact, the only similarities are the number one placement of London’s West End and the fact that Edinburgh also features, although much further down than in Experian’s revised table.
Lead consultant of Property and Retail at Experian, James Miller, believes that the expenditure rate does not necessarily indicate the probability of long term survival for a shopping area.
He says; “The centres we’ve identified serve catchments that are resilient to the impact of business insolvencies, unemployment and declines in income and contain a good proportion of wealthy professional couples and families.
“Consumers in these locations also tend to shop or order online highlighting how the high street and the internet can work in tandem.
“This combination of factors makes these centres well placed to survive and thrive in the current retail climate.”
Perhaps retailers looking to expand their commercial property network should now take Experian’s research into consideration before jumping into centres which perform well at present but, debatably, are not well placed for long term survival. By constantly examining ways in which different areas can strengthen their survival chances, the retail industry can get back on its feet once more.
Do you think examining a number of factors is a better way of determining market potential, or do expenditure figures speak for themselves?
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