Courting the younger consumer

As featured in Retail Destination Magazine:  Andrew Duncan, Head of Placemaking, Marketing and communications at Multi-Realm, discusses why younger shoppers are drawn to outlets.

Outlets are winning over more first-time shoppers and shoppers from a younger demographic, who are looking to align price consciousness with conscious consumerism while enjoying a premium, elevated experience. At Lakeside Village alone, which is an established centre, we have found that the number of shoppers in the under-34s demographic has increased by a third in the past four years. Outlets are reaching these new audiences through a more sophisticated approach to social media marketing, while brands themselves are investing in a friction-free in-store experience, often blurring the lines between the full price and outlet shopping environment.
Denim, athleisure and cosmetics brands are prioritising outlet in their omnichannel strategies, which has a huge appeal among the younger audience, as does the improved F&B offering now found in most outlets. Cosmetics brands are showing significant growth in the UK market among the younger shopper demographic, and with outlets offering more choice, this is a key driver for the growing numbers of younger shoppers.

Sports brands are also a powerful force with high gym membership amongst this cohort and athleisure a strong influence on their fashion tastes. Younger shoppers have grown up with vouchers, discount codes and Groupon. As they look to wean off online exclusivity and consider a trip to a physical outlet shopping destination, the experience needs to reassure them that these are places that can be enjoyed with a phone in hand. Instagram moments, being alerted of limited offers and social media activity all need to present as a best-in-class platform as they add a deeper level of engagement and enjoyment. The under-30s are also enjoying the trading up feature of shopping at an outlet which renders some brands (that would otherwise be considered out of their reach) suddenly much more accessible by virtue of the pricing and product line up. Younger shoppers are valuable shoppers too. They are the most exciting growth opportunity that the sector is targeting because they bring demand for new categories and, in turn, future interest from brands that might have run online-only operations in the past and now see increasing physical portfolios in outlet as a valid way of capturing new markets. Younger shoppers are notoriously difficult to convert into loyal shoppers, which is why operators are looking at removing friction and sources of disappointment wherever they can. We are however increasingly seeing high levels of conversion – this group is coming with purpose, to pick off just those brands that are of high interest to them rather than shop the entire scheme.

Like all other aspects of outlet retailing, centre marketing is a hugely collaborative effort between brands supplying content and collateral and outlet operators packaging and amplifying it. At a strategic level we are seeing outlet shopping being presented as an elevated lifestyle choice – something that conveys sophistication, individuality and an expression of being a prudent shopper. Outlet marketing used to rely very heavily on above-the-line media (print, outdoor and broadcast advertising) to lobby catchments to come and give it a try. Today we see much more advocacy and integration of digital spend to showcase the outlet experience and reveal what is on offer using Instagram, TikTok, Haul videos on You Tube and collaborations with influencers. This digitisation of outlet centre marketing has long been part of promoting themselves as destinations with a long-range appeal for day trippers, domestic and international tourists. Attracting this audience requires outlets to employ social channels to remain cost effective – some schemes are now using WeChat to attract tourists from Asia, and you will often find Facebook and Instagram being used exclusively for promoting events and short-term pop-ups. Social media is a hungry animal though and with a never-ending requirement for content, we now see store managers and on-site marketing managers in front of camera as part of the promotional push.

The outlet environment is one of the most actively managed and curated of all retail destinations and
we work hard to create a guest culture with VIP moments that elevate the experience. Outlet has an element of surprising and delighting shoppers, as they come for value and quality and are often led to finding unexpected treasures and interactions with brands they might not have known before. With this spirit of discovery, outlets have learnt to put their best foot forward – particularly when attracting tourists and delivering a relaxed holiday feeling – where operators invest heavily to ensure this channel can genuinely be considered a ‘great day out’.

Understanding the potential Gen Z outlet customer requires a more responsive, ‘pull’ marketing approach where you need to have an ear to the ground to engage with and discover the right brands to work with. This is not simply an extension of mall commercialisation as localism – a sense of purpose is much higher on the agenda. RD

Outlets are no strangers to staging promotions aimed at the under-25s with most running a ‘back to uni/college’, prom night or graduation event where specific brands have been grouped together and relevant stock is pushed to the fore, but this has undoubtedly become a bigger target audience.In tailoring more events and experiences specifically for the younger demographic, we have seen outlets invite a range of short-term pop-up occupiers to take space. These often feature a local artisanal food and beverage offer or an independent fashion business where there is often a charity or element of good cause behind the brand. Despite only accounting for a very small percentage of floor space, these are cool limited access additions to a scheme. Factor in the high levels of launch support with live music or a DJ and these become powerful initiatives capable of creating a real buzz with real FOMO.
It is a trend that is gathering momentum as up and coming brands are now seeing that using an outlet for a short-term physical activation is a great way of cost-effectively testing the water for a physical presence or moving away from being exclusively online-only businesses. It is a chance to attract new customers and engage with existing ones.

At Lakeside Village Outlet, Google Reviews have proven to be very useful in understanding shopper experiences, tracking spikes of new customers and helping us plot the lowering average ages amongst our shoppers as the most popular age group of Google Reviewers is 25-34. This aligns with our customer analysis that shows the number of sub-34-year old shoppers at Lakeside Village has increased by a third in the last four years.

This follows a brand refresh and mall enhancement project in 2019, from which time we have seen a steady increase in the number of reviews, and also a sharp uptick in overall satisfaction. Traditionally, Google Reviews were deemed too localised to be of interest to outlet schemes, but as we now focus so much more on community engagement to draw in a wider demographic of shoppers, we can see the value and impact of reviewing the 7,000-plus reviews as part of our ongoing marketing of the centre.