Shopping Centers: traffic rose 1.2% in 2014

By

Matthieu Guinebault

Published
Aug 18, 2015

The International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) announced that the traffic in European shopping centers rose 1.2% in 2014. Most of the increase happened in Southern and Eastern Europe, but also in medium size shopping centers, with an increase of 3%, compared with only 1.5% for the largest surfaces.

Traffic in Spain, Portugal Italy and Turkey rose 3.4%. In Eastern Europe, the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary grew roughly at the same pace (3.2%). Traffic in Northern and Western Europe remained almost stable.

"In spite of the rising importance of e-commerce, the study shows that the European shopping centers are going in the right direction", declared Alexander Otto, President of the ICSC. "By reinforcing their identity as living spaces, they provide unique experiences that the digital world cannot offer. We have to be up to the current challenges of the market, and respect the needs of our customers in order to make our shopping centers relevant and attractive for today and tomorrow."

The ICSC groups more than 70,000 players in the commercial real estate sector in about 100 countries, and represent more than 200 million square meters of commercial surface. In Europe, the organization counts with more than 7,000 members in 45 countries.