Westfield reports visitor increase in run-up to Christmas
Shopping centre operator Westfield has revealed that 14.1 million shoppers visited its Westfield London and Westfield Stratford City centres over the Christmas period to mark an overall increase of 1% on 2016.
Westfield centres experienced three peak trading periods during the run-up to Christmas starting with the Black Friday three-day shopping weekend when 850,000 shoppers visited the centres.
The last weekend before Christmas was the second peak period when retailers benefited from a full weekend of trading before Christmas Day. More than 800,000 visitors to the centres brought the pre-Christmas week’s trade to £1.85 million.
The third peak was seen over the Boxing Day sales period when the centres attracted more than 320,000 visitors.
During the festive period, Westfield created and hosted a range of immersive experiences at its centres to attract and entertain shoppers. These included a Star Wars hyper reality experience, the Style Trial rental designer fashion boutique where shoppers could hire their Christmas party outfits, The Chill Lounge pop-up ice bar, and The Wish Factory Santa’s Grotto for adults.
In addition, Gwen Stefani officially switched on the Westfield London Christmas lights with a special festive performance.
Myf Ryan, chief marketing officer of Westfield UK and Europe, said: “Over the Christmas period, we offered many unique and immersive experiences to our customers. With over 70 million visitors coming to the centres each year, we are looking forward to creating even more exciting experiences and activities for our customers to enjoy in 2018.”
