Kiss and Till

Written on: 08 February 2011

Love is in the air...

With the next Calendar Event as Valentines Day/Weekend, love is in the air at shopping centres around the UK. Red hearts are aplenty and no doubt the price war of the dozen red roses will shortly be upon us. Shops are decked out to tempt you to show how much you love your husband, wife, lover, hamster. All affairs of the heart are catered for as we are driven to the edge of guilt for not showing our loved one how much they mean to us on this one special day. But it's only a day I hear you say! I show my loved one everyday that I love them, I don't need a box of over priced chocolates! But its big business for the retailers and they are out in force to compete for our 'Love Money'.

Whole Shopping Centre marketing campaigns are based around the day of love, competitions to win trips to Paris, free roses, free chocolates abound but does any of this actually boost footfall? Newsletters are full of the retailers love based offers to give the February sales a much needed boost. Could this marketing money be more wisely spent by the shopping centres? Could the £5,000 it costs for such events be better spent on the actual shopping centre itself in the form of new customer seating, amenities etc rather than on 1 days splurge? I suspect the driving force behind the shopping centres marketing is that the Landlord needs to be seen to be supporting its tenants promotions and help to create an atmosphere that engenders spending. But I wonder if they would rather have a little love back themselves and save this money for another special occasion? P.S. Don't forget those chocolates………………xx

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