In recent years, traffic in shopping malls and retail centers across Poland has decreased by 1.5% year on year. This data, drawn from analysis of more than 185 thousand consumers, reveals that the overall number of clients has decreased by 0.1% year on year. Both of these metrics saw the most significant increase in Warsaw, while the most substantial drops were reported in Wrocław. In 2023, the average visit duration was nearly 43 minutes, which is 11 seconds longer than in 2022. The average shopper frequented these establishments almost 33 times and visited approximately 6 different locations in 2023. In 2022, the numbers were similar. In conclusion of the report, the authors remind us that during the pandemic, malls and shopping centers saw a double-digit decline. Therefore, the situation seems to be slowly stabilizing after this challenging period. However, given the persistently high inflation, it is still too early to talk about a complete recovery.
The report by a high-tech company, Proxi.cloud, shows that shopping mall traffic across Poland dropped by 1.5% in 2023 compared to 2022. For the authors of the analysis, this outcome is not surprising as retail trade (i.e., grocery and industrial stores) also saw declines in traffic, especially towards the end of the year.
The report also shows that the average number of visits to malls and shopping centers per shopper in 2023 was around 33. Furthermore, in the previous year, the number of visited places per person exceeded 6, similar to 2022, but was 0.5 less than before.
According to Proxi.cloud, given that Poles visit malls and shopping centers for various purposes, both for shopping and entertainment, these figures are not surprising. However, a small change in the average values once again suggests that it is challenging to change consumers’ long-term habits.
Dr. Nikodem Sarna, a co-author of the report, summarized that the mall and shopping center market exhibited relative stability during the examined period. However, this does not mean that the situation will remain unchanged in 2024. If e-commerce popularity continues to grow and customers prefer to order online but pick up offline, such businesses may suffer. It is crucial to remember, though, that these are merely speculations at this stage.
The study was carried out by Proxi.cloud, a technology firm, based on data comparing the whole year of 2023 with the previous one. User behavior of those visiting shopping malls during the examined periods was analyzed, excluding holidays and non-trading Sundays. The sample size consisted of users who had one of the partner apps installed, agreed to allow app access to the device’s location, shared location data, and visited the inspected facilities in both compared periods. The sample size was precisely 185,125 unique customers.
