SE Asian shoppers in UK spend £533 per visit
By Ben Sillitoe - 05:40PM - Wed 8th June 2011
Sales in UK stores from south-east Asian shoppers have significantly increased in the year to date, with new research showing that the average tourist from this part of the world is spending an incredible £533 when they visit.
Worldwide retail analyst Global Blue said that consumers from SE Asia spent an average of just £492 per transaction in 2010, attributing the sales growth to an increase in spending from newly industrialised nations such as Thailand and Malaysia.
Visitors from Hong Kong remain the region’s biggest spenders, making purchases worth an average of £617 during each visit to the UK, but Thais and Malaysians are quickly catching up with typical outlays of £529 and £510 respectively.
Global Blue predicts that the combined SE Asian shopper market is set for 30 per cent UK growth over the next 18 months with Chinese shoppers alone making a 14 per cent contribution to non-EU international spend in the UK last year.
Nigel Dasler, Vice President of Global Blue UK, said: “The booming Chinese economy has had a hugely positive effect on the economies of surrounding countries - so much so that in 2010 south-east Asia and China combined accounted for just under a third of all international spend in the UK.
“The amalgamation of China and other south-east Asian countries as one unit, represents a huge commercial potential for UK retail with spend of these two regions combined set to jump by 30 per cent year-on-year.”
New West End Company and Global Blue’s GlobeShopper Calendar, published earlier this year, predicted that visitors from China, Russia and United Arab Emirates will be key drivers of retail sales in London’s West End in 2011.
It also estimated that retail tourism numbers are expected to grow by 15 per cent year-on-year, with emerging markets such as Kuwait and Nigeria helping to significantly increase international shopping levels in the capital’s retail hub.