Fashion focussed promotions drive footfall
Published: 15 October, 2008
Fashion is a vital part of a shopping centre retail mix, with a large number of consumers focused on buying clothes, shoes and accessories. It therefore makes sense that mall events focus on the theme of fashion, and an increasing number of shopping centres are realising that fashion shows can not only attract footfall and increase dwell time and spend, but also assist in generating additional income.
Shoppertainment ran an eight-week 'Spring Fashion Extravaganza' promotional campaign to increase revenue, shopper footfall, dwell time and spend at Merseyway shopping centre in Stockport from March to May this year. The primary aims were to provide an interesting mix of concessions to generate revenue through the mall space, create a well publicised diary of events to increase shopper footfall, and improve perceptions of the centre.
Shoppertainment director Clare Andrew says: "We had a chat with Merseyway because they wanted to try some different retailing fashion events but they didn't have a budget to do it. We decided to give it a go and it went really, really well and generated a lot of valuable PR for the centre."
The campaign included two fashion shows and a number of style make-over challenges as well as a variety of events to ensure no shoppers were excluded, including a Ferrari simulator, free face painting, nail bars and concessions, which were hand picked by Shoppertainment to reflect the overall spring theme. These were rotated and changed to keep the offer vibrant and fresh. In addition to generating revenue from the concessions, Shoppertainment ensured they linked in with the fashion theme to enhance the overall shopping experience. Further income was obtained through sponsorship from Sky, 02, Coca-Cola, Vision Express and Star Style Studios.
Approximately 75 per cent of tenants were involved in the event and average spend was said to increase. The mall income providers felt the promotion was a huge success and saw a 17 per cent increase on their average sales, and footfall increased by 5.6 per cent when the fashion events were held. Overall the promotion reversed the trend of decline into an uplift in footfall with an increase of 13,000 visitors per week.
The Mall @ Cribbs Causeway also runs a fashion event twice a year, in conjunction with fashion show organiser Fashion Live. This year is the first time it held a spring/summer show, but the autumn event has been going strong since 2002.
From September 27 to October 5 this year, the centre, together with Fashion Live, held a series of fashion shows, presented by GMTV stylist Mark Heyes and celebrity hair stylist Andrew Barton. The sell-out shows - 17 in five days - featured fashions from the centre's retailers, and cost shoppers £7.50 each to attend - or £12.50 for a platinum (front row) seat, generating over £40,000 in income.
The event was supported by various style clinics and make-overs as well as a variety of fashion and beauty related mall promotions. In addition the shows were sponsored by John Lewis for an undisclosed fee. Previously Renault has sponsored the event for £30,000 per event for three consecutive years.
Sarah King, marketing consultant for the centre, says: "We know from our research that we have what we call our 'high value' customers that represent 20 per cent of our shoppers but generate 80 per cent of our sales. Our whole marketing strategy is designed to appeal to those high value customers."
Eunice Denny from Fashion Live adds: "We listen to what the retailers want in the show, which is important, but we put our professional stylists in the stores to add their creative edge. The advantage we have is that we know 100 per cent of the people in the audience are there to watch the fashion show and they're likely to want to buy. Certain pieces from the show have been totally sold out so we have to make sure those items are replaced. The merchandise we're showing has to be available within the stores."
