'Market share loss' for Town Centre shopping locations

'Planning' reports that:

A study carried out by property consultancy CBRE found that town centres attract 47.9 million people – or 79.7 per cent of the population – for "shopping purposes", an increase of 1.64 per cent since 1998, but a market share loss of 4.02 per cent.

Out-of-town trading locations currently attract 5.7 million people – or 9.6 per cent of the population – for shopping purposes, an increase of 61 per cent since 1998 and an overall market share increase of 53.37 per cent.

"Town centres have been boosted by shopping population growth but continue to suffer significant market share losses", the report said.

"Major gains and losses are however limited to a very small proportion of trading locations. Towns with development are diverting trade from towns without. It is not in this respect so much a diversion from town centre to out-of-town as from old shopping stock to new and from small space to big."

The findings of the study are based on The National Survey of Local Shopping Patterns (NSLSP), to which 12 million people have contributed details of their shopping habits.