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Sandra Halliday Published
June 24, 2025
We increasingly hear about the impact entertainment attractions have on retail sales for nearby stores and now entertainment, leisure, and retail destination The O2 has put some numbers on this to show just how big an impact a link with entertainment districts can have on retail.
More and more mall operators are adding big entertainment and leisure attractions to what were once purely retail locations, while specific major entertainment and leisure districts — such as Wembley Park and The O2 — also see retail as a key part of their offer.
The O2 is the world’s most popular live entertainment, leisure, and retail destination and it said it has “revealed the emergence of a new type of consumer spending at the destination, one it believes will become a dominant behaviour”.
Working with CACI (data specialists focused on people and places) it said “social spending [is] a key driver of the destination’s strong performance”.
What the O2 — which is located in Greenwich, South east London, — comprises is a very busy entertainment district alongside the Outlet Shopping at The O2 mall, both owned and operated by AEG Europe and Crosstree Real Estate. An expansive dining element is also in the mix.
The aim was to create a destination with cross-generational and multi-faceted appeal and the operators said “consumers are consistently choosing [it] as the ideal place in which to spend quality time with friends and family. This socialisation purpose, rather than a singular visit driver such as shopping, is leading to significant cross-category spending, resulting in The O2 outperforming across multiple UK benchmarks”.
That means 43% of people who start their visit at the outlet mall go on to dine within the destination’s Entertainment District, and 6% go on to visit a leisure experience or attraction. This compares to the average UK benchmarks of 33% and 3%, respectively.
Some 34% of those who visit the O2 for its attractions and leisure offering then go on to spend on food & beverage, a figure significantly ahead of the UK benchmark of 14%. And 8% who visit for an F&B experience also then make the most of its leisure offering, versus a UK benchmark of 3%.
We’re told this behaviour “is driving incremental spend that outperforms the industry norms” at the mall. Since Q3 2025 for example, sales at the outlet mall have risen 58% compared to 36% for UK outlets in general and 31% in the capital.
Those figures underline the logic behind mall operators UK-wide converting a massive amount of space away from pure retail and towards things like dining and activities – from mini golf to zipwires and more. Cinema complexes are also increasingly being attached to shopping centres.
It’s no surprise therefore that as well as pure retail openings this year, such as All Good Things and Castore, the O2 district has also welcomed F&B operator Chopstix, and this summer will see the arrival of leisure operator, Clip ‘n Climb.
Janine Constantin-Russell, Managing Director of the Entertainment District and Outlet Shopping at The O2, said: “We always knew that socialisation plays a key role in how and where consumers choose to spend their time and money, both of which are under increasing pressure, but this research pinpoints exactly how significant it is to our performance.
“We believe ‘social spending’ is a behaviour that is going to become even more important for all destinations in the future, and we will continue to invest in a holistic offer that provides not only what people need, but what they want in order to feel connected to their loved ones. By doing so, as the research demonstrates, we will drive performance, which has obvious benefits to all of our brands, be they outlet retailers, F&B operators, or leisure experiences.”
And CACI’s Principal Consultant Freddie Slemeck added: “These insights highlight that, to optimise consumer spending, particularly in a highly competitive market such as London, it is crucial to provide a 360-degree experience encompassing retail, F&B and leisure.”