The concept of outlet shopping began with stores selling seconds and samples. It was a way for consumers to grab a bargain in the shape of slightly damaged good or one offs from their favourite brands. Such shops were often attached to manufacturing centres or factories and were sometimes known as factory shops for this reason. Such stores evolved into places where you could buy surplus stock from previous seasons’ collections and outlet shopping was becoming more and more popular as time went by.

Destination Shopping

Outlet stores were pulling in the shoppers and soon outlet malls were built to create attractive destinations for bargain hunters to visit. More and more of these were built and outlet shopping was riding the crest of the wave. So popular did outlet malls become that they attracted huge volumes of tourists as well as local shoppers. Indeed Bicester Village in the UK made it into the top ten visitor attractions in the country. It looked like there was going to be no stopping the outlets but now their success has begun to stall. What is causing shopping habits to change?

Changing Tide

One problem is certainly the merchandise on offer. The retailers have become victims of their own success as the popularity of the outlets meant that a large volume of stock was required. Such volume could not be found in faulty goods and leftovers from previous seasons and so a different approach was required. There was little point in simply producing greater volumes of the mainstream ranges so there was more left over at the end of each season. That was tantamount to accepting hugely reduced margins. Instead many of the retailers produced items for their outlet stores that they could sell cheaply because they were of inferior quality to their main ranges.

The stores got away with this practice for some time but consumers have become wise to the fact that the goods in the outlets may not be such great value after all. There are further issues for retailers with outlet malls. As consumers were flocking to them to grab cheaper styles, the outlets were effectively drawing business away from the mainstream stores. This has forced prices down on the high street, sometimes to a level that is cheaper than the outlet stores!

Online shopping has also taken its toll on outlet malls. As more shoppers become internet savvy and more purchases are made online there is less footfall in the bricks and mortar stores. Consumers can seek out bargains online and may not feel the need to hunt down the discounts at the outlet stores. It will be interesting to see how things develop as the future of the outlets now looks uncertain. If prices in the mainstream shops are almost as low, or are indeed lower, if some of the goods at the outlets are inferior and if many consumers would rather shop online then the outlets might be in trouble. Maybe retailers’ focus will have to shift once more. The online experience they offer may prove to be more be more important that the outlet one!

Article by Sally Stacey