Local Shops and town centres top choice for consumers despite online and out-of-town competition

Town centre managers should go back to basics to meet consumer demand as new research from global property advisor CBRE reveals that most Europeans still prefer to visit their local shops and town centres rather than buy products online or shop at out-of-town retail venues.
The report - ‘How We Shop: Inside the Minds of Europe’s Consumers’ - reveals that while online retailing continues to grow in appeal, consumers do not intend to radically change their shopping habits in the coming years and the overwhelming majority are yet to fully embrace new technology and digital tools such as QR codes. Two thirds of consumers said that price of goods, cleanliness, security and convenient access were the most important factors when choosing where to shop. Entertainment and leisure were also deemed important by a third of those surveyed and by more than half of the younger age group (News Detail CBRE, 24 June 2013).