Shopping
Introduction
Shopping is one of the most popular activities for overseas visitors to Britain. Given the importance of shopping to inbound tourism, we have compiled reports examining the volume and value of this activity, the markets most likely to go shopping in Britain, and their key behaviours and preferences.
Note: The reports based on the International Passenger Survey (IPS) which was published before March 2018 and has not been updated with the 2009 to 2018 revised IPS data.
For further information, please contact [email protected].
Types of shops visited by overseas visitors (2015)
Report highlights
- In 2014, around 22 million visits included visiting a shop, with just over 0.3 million trips mainly for personal shopping.
- Half of the visits included shopping on the high street or at a shopping centre.
- Department stores, outlet villages and luxury or designer shops were the second most popular shopping venue (visited by 26%).
- Gift or souvenir shops were visited by 19%, and were particularly popular with holiday and study visitors seeking a trip memento.
- Visitors who went to any of these types of shops explored in this research spent an average of £739 during their trip, compared to £414 by those who did not – around 80% more.
- The per-visit spend rose to £960 for those who included shopping at an outlet, department store or shop selling luxury or designer goods.
Shopping_report_Aug15.pdf
Read the full findings in the report
What inbound visitors shop for in Britain (2013)
Items purchased
%
Clothes or shoes
37.5%
Food or drink 21.7% Books or stationery 11.5% Cosmetics or toiletries
11.4%
Bags, purses
8.8%
Personal accessories
8.8%
Games, toys or gifts for children
8.5%
CDs, DVDs, computer games
4.8%
Items for your home 2.8% Electrical or electronic items
2.6%
Other holiday souvenir
14.1%
None of these
34.3%
Visiting Britain for Shopping (2011)
Report highlights
- In 2011, shopping was one of the most popular activities for overseas visitors to Britain, with 58% of all visits involving shopping (increasing to around 70% amongst leisure visitors). Around 18 million visits included shopping in 2011.
- It was estimated that overseas visitors spent around £4.5 billion on shopping in the UK in 2011.
- In 2011, the USA, France and Germany were the highest spending markets in Britain whilst highest average spend per visit was seen from the Gulf States, Nigeria, China and Russia.
Foresight_112.pdf
See full findings from the research in the full report
Further resources
- Shopping is one activity that can account for much of the expenditure of wealthy travellers. Learn more about luxury travellers from the USA, China and the GCC, Published 2018 (PDF, 2.59 MB) – including how they define a luxury trip, how they plan their holidays and their opinion of Britain.
- Read our report on the process of Booking a Holiday, Published 2017 (PDF, 1.38 MB), including what is purchased before travelling to Britain.
- Our report on inbound tourism to Britain’s nations and regions, Published 2020 (PDF, 5.31 MB) profiled overseas visitors in various areas of Britain, their activities, and where they are most likely to go shopping.
