TOM June 2020

Page 9 T O M
ANALYSES June 2020
Frequencies in retail locations
almost at pre-corona level
GfK measurements at the end of June give cause for hope
With the spread of COVID-19
in Germany, the number of visitors
to the retail locations in
city centres, shopping centres
and retail parks fell from the
end of February onwards. However,
according to visitor frequency
measurements carried
out by GfK with wetter.com,
the situation has now eased.
The lowest point was reached in
the week following the start of
the nationwide lockdown from
23 to 29 March, when only 41
per cent of the pre-corona frequency
was recorded. Since the
relaxation of measures to contain
the virus, visitor numbers
in all shopping locations are approaching
the levels seen before
the outbreak of the pandemic.
In particular, retail parks are almost
back to pre-corona levels.
Very strong decline
With the start of the lockdown in
the week from 16 to 22 March,
visitor frequency in Germany
declined very sharply in all
shopping locations. This week,
44 percent fewer people visited
retail locations. With the tightening
of contact restrictions, the
frequency in the week from 23
to 29 March even fell 59 percent
below pre-Corona levels. It is
interesting to take a look at the
federal states here: While visits
in Berlin fell most sharply (-63
percent), the decline was least
pronounced in the surrounding
Brandenburg (-45 percent).
„We monitor the number of visitors
to the individual shopping
locations on a daily basis. There
is no question that the corona
virus has had a strong influence
on the shopping behavior
of Germans - and still does,“
comments Filip Vojtech, GfK
expert for retail and fashion &
lifestyle in the geomarketing
sector. „People have been shopping
less frequently and more
cautiously in stationary stores,
especially since the start of the
lockdown, and at the same time
have increasingly shifted their
purchases to online retailing.
The customers have more desire to shop again.
For retailers, this means that
they have to create incentives
through offers, promotions or
the shopping experience in order
to increase visitor frequency
on site again. Above all, however,
the search for highly frequented
and at the same time
target group-specific locations
plays an even more important
role“.
Shopping centers
suffer the most
If we look at the development of
visitor flows broken down into
city centres, shopping centres
and retail parks, a more detailed
picture emerges. Although there
were declines in visitor numbers
in all three shopping locations,
nationwide shopping centres
(-64 percent in the week from
23 to 29 March) and city centre
locations (-59 percent) were
particularly hard hit. In specialty
shopping centers with a local
supply function for the surrounding
area, the frequency in the
same week was 45 percent below
the pre-Corona level.
„One of the reasons why the
number of visitors in city centres
and shopping centres has
fallen so drastically is that these
shopping locations are mainly
occupied by retailers with
goods for medium and longterm
requirements, which had
to close when the lockdown
began,“ says Dr. Hendrik Wagenseil,
GfK expert for Geodata
Science in the Geomarketing division.
„And even in specialist
retail centres, for example, the
textile retailers and DIY stores
that had rented premises there
had to close. Together with the
declining shopping frequency
of the population, this led to less
frequency. At the same time, the
specialty shopping centers have
taken on a central role in the
provision of basic services together
with the local grocery and
drugstore retail trade“.
With the easing of the measures
introduced and the opening of
retail shops under 800 square
metres in the week from 20 to
26 April, the number of visitors
also rose more strongly again.
Nationwide, the retail frequency
increased by 14 percentage
points compared to the previous
week (to 55 percent of the
pre-Corona level). It has been
growing ever since. In the week
from 15 to 21 June, visitor frequency
was only 16 percent
below the pre-corona level.
Among the federal states, Berlin
came in last with 27 percent below
pre-corona level that week.
In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania,
on the other hand, eleven
percent more visitors were measured
at all shopping locations
than at the end of February.
Figures on
the rise again
If you take a closer look at the
three shopping locations individually,
you will see that
the number of visitors to retail
parks in particular has almost
completely recovered. Nationwide,
only seven percent fewer
people were on the move there
in the week from 15 to 21 June
than before the pandemic; three
weeks earlier the difference was
only four percent. The figures in
German city centres (-16 percent
in the week from 15 to 21
June) and shopping centres (-19
percent) are also continuing to
rise and are approaching precorona
levels again - albeit at a
much slower pace.