The best shopping centres are attracting visitors, but the challenge is converting visits to sales

The annual Capital Shopping Centres drinks reception at the Wallace Collection is always a good place to gauge the temperature of the retail property market, and going along last week it was clear that the mood was a good deal more positive than I could remember for a few years.

Of course CSC has every right to be positive, having successfully negotiated a tortuous path to acquire the Trafford Centre, one of the UK’s pre-eminent (if rather eccentrically designed) shopping centres. In an update to the stock exchange this morning, the company said footfall in its centres had rised 3% this year and occupancy was running at 96.8%, although this is down by 0.9% since the turn of the year and 1% of the rent roll has entered administration since the turn of the year.

There is an apparent dichotomy between footfall being up at a time when retailers are struggling. What it suggests to me is two things. Firstly that big centres are doing better than their smaller rivals. CSC doesn’t say this, but I got the sense the other night that it’s the Traffords, the Braeheads, the Lakesides and the Metro Centres in its portfolio which are driving growth rather than the Uxbridges, Bromleys and Watfords. Big centres offer a day out and an experience - Lego is opening a second ride in its attraction in Trafford for example - and they are also attracting the retailers which shoppers are really excited about, like Hollister and Apple.

The second point is that in today’s market conversion is the challenge of converting browsers to spenders. A lot is said about shopping as a leisure activity, but the shopping centre environment can only do so much - it can get people there, but its a lot harder to get them to spend and that’s where great environments, service, prices and product are needed.