Savvy bargain hunters boosted revenues over the Christmas holiday period at London Designer Outlet in Wembley Park, the capital’s leading fashion and lifestyle outlet centre.The results show the ongoing appeal of aspirational and desirable brands at up to 70% off RRP throughout the year, and at up to 85% off during seasonal sale periods such as the Boxing Day sales.
Overall, total revenue climbed +11.1%, year-on-year (YoY), and like-for-life revenue, rose by +7.6%, YoY, when newly opened stores are excluded.
The diversity of products available at London Designer Outlet was demonstrated in the results by retailer type. Total revenue in sportswear rose by +32.0%, YoY, and by +31.0%, YoY, in homeware. Additionally, footwear and fashion improved their total revenues by +16.0% and +5.1%, YoY, respectively. Across the two-week Christmas period, footfall was up +2.8%, YoY, with week commencing 22 December the best week ever in revenue terms.
The results cover the two-week period from Sunday 22 December 2019 to Saturday 04 January 2020, inclusive, compared to Sunday 23 December 2018 to Saturday 05 January 2019.
Sue Shepherd, Realm’s General Manager of London Designer Outlet, said: “We had an exceptional Christmas in terms of events at London Designer Outlet and the wider Wembley Park. Winterfest was the area’s first immersive winter lights trail which included London’s tallest LED tree and Sonic Runway which immersed guests in a 130m multi-sensory installation of rippling music and patterned lights. The 320,000 guests we welcomed from near and far over the two-week Christmas period had plenty to draw them here. As a result, our strong trading track record continued with retail revenues achieving the 24th consecutive quarter of growth, in a trend that has continued from when the centre opened in October 2013.”
Dropit, the app-based, store-to-door delivery service, remains popular with shoppers. London Designer Outlet is still the only UK shopping centre to offer the hands-free service. All purchases bought at any of the 50 stores can be gathered together and swiftly delivered to customers’ homes, hotels or workplaces at a time and date of their choosing, with same-day deliveries available within the M25. The growth in popularity of the Dropit service was evidenced by a +159% increase in the number of deliveries across the Christmas period, with the associated spend for those transactions increasing by an average of +35%.
Some of these guests were international tourists having their shopping delivered back to London hotels. Tourism at London Designer Outlet is continuing to grow, with Tax Free transactions up by +10% across year to date. Tax Free spending by international visitors now accounts for 7% of all retail sales at the centre with 24% of all footfall to London Designer Outlet now coming from outside the UK as the tourism initiatives, including Dropit, continue to appeal to travellers.
The outlet centre is a premium retail and leisure destination, with the appeal of major retail brands, a choice of popular restaurants and bars, the benefits of the surrounding Wembley Park, and the added bonus of serious, year-round discounts. The average visitor age is just 34, the youngest of any UK outlet, showing how well London Designer Outlet meets the demands of next-generation shoppers.
Its premium fashion, athleisure, gifts and lifestyle names include Kurt Geiger, Dune, Superdry, Guess, Gap, Lee Wrangler, Lindt, Clarks, M&S and Beauty Outlet. In keeping with Wembley Park’s world-renowned reputation for sports and leisure, it is host to major athleisure brands such as Adidas, Converse, PUMA, Champion, The North Face, Asics, Skechers, Nike and New Balance. Its casual dining restaurants and bars provide places to relax during a daytime shopping trip, or for an exciting evening event at any one of Wembley Park’s range of entertainment venues including, at London Designer Outlet, Nando’s, Pizza Express, wagamama, Zizzi, Cabana, Big Moe’s American Diner and Las Iguanas.
Minutes from central London, Wembley Park is easily reached by three Tube lines, two train lines, eight bus routes plus ample car parking at low cost.
London Designer Outlet is managed by Realm, the UK’s specialist outlet operator, and is part of Wembley Park, the £3bn transformation by Quintain surrounding the world-famous National Stadium.
Attractions at Wembley Park includes London’s largest Boxpark which was recently named Best F&B Concept at the MAPIC Awards 2019, Wembley Park Market with entrepreneurial merchants and makers as well as Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre.
Wembley Park has a growing community of renters in lifestyle-focussed apartments, under Quintain’s award-winning Tipi brand which offers an all-inclusive rental package. Tipi’s scheme at Wembley Park is the largest single site of Build to Rent development in the UK, with a full-time residential community of some 20,000 projected by 2027.
