Gunwharf Quays sees shopping habits returning to normal
Gunwharf Quays has turned a corner as it sees a “significant increase” in footfall and that the new shopping habits during the pandemic are reverting to normal.
The designer outlet has seen sales escalate after a couple of difficult years for retailers and noticed new trends in how people shop.
Yvonne Clay, the centre director of Gunwharf Quays, said: “We measure on a daily basis the footfall and the sales by our brand partners. We are really pleased with our performance compared to two years ago.
“Some of the trends we have seen during the last year are people shopping during the week and less at weekends.” Ms Clay suggested that this may be because of the blended approach to working.
“We have also seen people shop less often but spend more when they shop.”
Due to the covid restrictions ending, Ms Clay has started to see shopping trends returning to normal.
This comes after some research by a Portsmouth academic revealed how people changed their shopping habits during the pandemic.
Sara Cranmer, from Southsea, said she preferred the new system of table service in Gunwharf bars that was brought in during the restrictions. “It was efficient, but now it is changing back to how it was before.”
To “resonate with families”, a family of brick tigers were displayed to celebrate the Year of the Tiger. It was proved to be a success as the site reported a “significant increase” in footfall over the last half-term. Yvonne Clay explains that it would give another reason for families to shop and remind people of how things used to be.
She said: “We will absolutely do something like this again. Portsmouth is a creative city and we want to do things that are different.”
