The vast majority of Americans (about 83 percent) visit a shopping center at least once per week, and 20 percent go to a shopping center more than 10 times per week, according to a survey conducted for ICSC. On average, Americans visit a shopping center between six and seven times per week. “These results show unequivocally the vital role shopping centers play in the everyday lives of millions of Americans,” said Christopher Gerlach, ICSC’s director of public-policy research. “Whether it is to pick up a loaf of bread and gallon of milk, grab a slice of pizza or a whole pie to go, or [to] stop in for a haircut and drop off the dry cleaning, shopping centers are overwhelmingly the places that satisfy the daily needs of consumers across the U.S.”
The survey found that Americans make, on average, 3.7 trips per week each to buy merchandise, and 2.8 times a week to obtain services. For goods, they go 1.3 times per week for convenience items such as milk, 1.1 times per week for health-and-beauty products, 0.6 percent times a week for household articles such as those for the garden, office or pets, and 0.6 times per week for durable and discretionary items such as apparel, electronics and furniture. When it comes to services, shoppers will visit malls most often to eat out or to pick up food to go (an average frequency of 1.3 times a week per person). This is followed by personal services, such as a haircut, dry cleaning or a manicure (0.7 times); entertainment or fitness, such as to a movie or the gym (0.4 times); and other services, including medical, financial or educational (0.3 times).
Broken down by race or ethnicity, the survey found that Hispanics hit the shopping center most often, at nine visits per week. Blacks visit 8.3 times per week, meanwhile, and non-Hispanic whites will visit 5.4 times weekly.
The survey asked respondents about their spending habits at the shopping center. The results indicate that those who visit at least once a week spend nearly $150 per week, on average. This equates to approximately $30 billion per week, or $4.2 billion per day, in spending at U.S. shopping centers.
There are some 115,000 shopping centers in the U.S., nearly 90 percent of which are small neighborhood and convenience centers.
