More than half of the retail space in European stores will be dedicated to providing experiences in 2025, a new report released today by Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield predicts.
The ‘Westfield How We Shop: The Next Decade’ report polled the needs and wants of 15,700 consumers across 10 countries in Europe including France, the UK, Spain, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Poland, the Czech Republic, Italy and the Netherlands. It pinpoints five major trends set to shape the industry over the next 10 years.
These five trends are ‘upside-down retail’ – with traditional shopping habits turned upside down and 59% of consumers expecting more than half of retail space to be devoted to experience rather than product; ‘anti-prescription’, referring to consumers’ desire to browse full retail ranges, not curated edits; ‘self-sustaining stores’, whereby consumers want retailers to do more to address environmental concerns and make more products in-store; ‘retail surgery’, referring to increased demands for more personalisation and using science to diagnose precise needs; and ‘ locally morphed’ retail – whereby retail spaces become community hubs with 70% of consumers desiring them to reflect the people who live in the area.
The launch of the ‘Westfield How We Shop: The Next Decade’ report follows the roll-out of the Westfield shopping, leisure and dining brand across Continental Europe.
Ten flagship destinations and two future developments were rebranded in France, Poland, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands in 2019, with more locations to follow in 2020.
Christophe Cuvillier, CEO of Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, said: 'The ‘Westfield How We Shop: The Next Decade’ report is one of the largest European studies of consumers’ retail habits and is an industry first.
‘Understanding customers’ needs today and tomorrow is part of our commitment to driving the industry forward and ensuring we provide the ultimate destinations for our visitors to enjoy and our retailers and brands to thrive in.’
Myf Ryan, chief marketing officer for Europe and group director of brand and strategic marketing at Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, added: ‘The important role of the physical store is changing and retailers need to enter another decade of reinvention to remain relevant. Retailers that lead on sustainability, devote more space to experience, provide free-range browsing online and in store, deliver precise product recommendations based on science and think local will reap the benefits.’
