TOP 5 June 2023 City Centre Retail Spend Insights. 

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Based on Beauclair Data across 62 City Centres nationwide. 

  1. Customers & Retail Spend up in June 2023.
    • Despite cost of living, inflation, interest rates etc June 2023 saw 5% more customers on average across 62 city centres vs June 2022, spending 8% more across the top 5 sectors.  This good June performance helps maintain customers and spend momentum YTD. Halfway through 2023 is better than halfway through 2022 in city centres.
  1. Inflation plays a part, but not the only driver of success.
    • As per ONS* inflation continues to rise, but it’s rate of growth slows June 2023. We see a 4% increase in June’s Average Transaction Value year-on-year, across our top 5 sectors. However, this varies by category; Food & Drink & Grocery are benefiting from drops in food inflation pressures, and we can see the June ATV actuals and % growth in these categories slightly lower than the equivalent June YTD figures. Whereas strong ATV growth in Fashion and Health & Beauty, ahead of YTD trends helps drives strong spend growth in these areas. 
  1. Fashion was the big sector winner in June 2023.
    • It accounts for 20% of sales, and June 2023 vs June 2022 saw +6% increase in Customers, +7% ATV leading to +13 % Retail Spend.  June 2023 ATV in fashion is £39.58, the highest across the top x5 sectors so this is a critical area to get right, despite this having strong online competition. Health & Beauty saw similar June trends, with an ATV of £24.31. 
  1. Top 5 Sectors Account for £4 of every £5 spent.
    • The top 5 sectors – Fashion, Food & drink, General Retail, Grocery and Health & Beauty – account for £4 of every £5 spent in the 62 City Centres on average. Over 70% of customers who visited in June 2023 spent in one of the top 5 SECTORS, highlighting the importance of good location planning.  29% of all customers spent money on Food & Drink, 17% spent on grocery and 11% on Fashion. 
  1.  Food & Drink, the single biggest spend sector, is growing in customers & spend June 2023, but slightly behind YTD.
    • It contributes 30% of city centre spend on average. Whilst still showing strong 4% customer growth and +6% spend on average in June 2023, this has slowed slightly compared to the equivalent YTD figures. 

*Source  ONS Consumer price inflation, UK – Office for National Statistics : “The easing in the annual inflation rates in June 2023 principally reflected price changes in the transport division, particularly for motor fuels. There were also notable downward effects from food and non-alcoholic beverages, furniture and household goods, and restaurants and hotels.”