What: The group, which counts 11 luxury outlet villages in England, Ireland, Continental Europe and China, said it has witnessed the quality of sales improve since lockdown ended, and seen further proof of its retail-as-hospitality concept.

Why it is important: There is no return to normal as the business has, over the past 18 months, become more sophisticated in terms of its approach to customer acquisition and experience – and its relationship with the brands. Also, open-air shopping has a new appeal in the post-pandemic world.

The company continues to pitch itself to brands as a “full-price customer acquisition platform,” rather than a place to park out-of-season stock. So it’s more important than ever to deliver a polished offer to visitors, and to work as closely as possible with the brands to ensure that the inventory and merchandising are top notch. To that end, Value Retail has made a series of key hires in the past month from big brands including Gucci, Burberry, La Rinascente and Ermenegildo Zegna.

Sales growth through the summer and into the early autumn has been accelerating, while the average transaction value across the collection is up by 13% compared with 2019. Villages including La Vallée in France; Maasmechelen in Belgium; Wertheim and Ingolstadt in Germany, and Kildare in Ireland have seen their spend-per-visit rise by between 25 and 32% compared with 2019. Spend-per-visit at Shanghai Village has increased by 82%, while Suzhou Village has risen by 47% in the nine months to September versus 2019.

In the first half of 2021, 14% of total sales across the villages in Europe came through virtual shopping services (which launched at the start of 2021). Over the past year it has also hosted more than 355 special brand events across its European villages and nearly 100 in China.

Value Retail sees sales bounce back worldwide