The UK's retail parks market is set to outperform the high street, according to a report by GlobalData.
Titled ‘UK Retail Parks 2017: Shift in tenant mix, impending economic pressures and facilitating the multichannel shopper journey’, the report forecasts the market to grow by 13.8% between this year and 2022.
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New retail parks and extensions of existing ones have been identified as the main growth drivers of the market. Consumers are finding retail parks more attractive in sectors such as electricals, and DIY and gardening, says the report.
In a 2,000-respondent survey conducted by GlobalData, approximately 90% of consumers agreed to have shopped at a retail park in the last 12 months, while 54.3% of consumers visited a retail park at least once a month.
The retail parks market is undergoing a rapid change with discounters expanding their presence and gaining market share. Leveraging on their low-price points, discounters such as Aldi, Lidl, Home Bargains and Poundland are attracting shoppers.
Discounters will account for 20.3% of retail park sales over the next five years, opines Charlotte Pearce, retail analyst for GlobalData. Market share of traditional retail park sectors, however, has decreased over the past five years, with a 3% point (ppts) drop for electricals, and 1ppt drop for DIY and gardening.
To continue attracting shoppers, retailers need to diversify their retail park tenant mix by moving to new locations or expanding retail parks, which will provide first mover advantage, adds Pearce.
Offline retail, however, remains a challenge for retailers as consumers continue to shop online. To counter this challenge, retailers should adopt a multichannel approach and add click-and-collect in-store options to their offerings, the report adds.
