London West End, Edinburgh and Kingston-upon-Thames have strongest market potential
Experian retail ranking tool, Retailscape, has suggested that London West End, Edinburgh’s Princes Street and Kingston-upon-Thames have the strongest market potential; while Guildford, Tunbridge Wells and Horsham are the UK’s multi-channel shopping hotspots.
The tool looks at the traditional measure of retail spend, but also the affluence of its main catchment area, an area’s overall resilience and how likely consumers in a region are to shop online.
James Miller, lead consultant for property and retail at Experian, said: “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.
“With the first few months of 2013 already heralding the demise of some well-known consumer brands, the business of identifying locations that will be profitable and are best suited to a retailer’s particular offer has never been more critical or complex.
“What our insight demonstrates is that what is right for one retailer will not suit another. More than ever, locations need to be prioritised and selected based on deep insight into factors such as the economic resilience of the area, local competition, on and offline shopping habits and the characteristics of the catchment population.”
It was found that city centres and town centres were still the hubs for retail, in terms of market potential, multi-channel spots and comparison spend, with only Westfield and the Trafford Centre being listed on any of the three charts under ‘malls’.