Shopping tourism is growing faster than retail in general. Last year, retail revenue from shopping tourists reached SEK 100 billion, an increase of SEK 5 billion compared to the previous year, according to a new report from the Swedish Trade Association. ”This provides some perspective in today’s discussions about the future of retail,” says Mats Hedenström, head of business policy.
In total, tourism generated a turnover of SEK 337 billion in 2018 and generated 172,400 jobs in Sweden. In trade alone, shopping tourism created 35,500 jobs. With the report, the trade organization wants to send a signal to its members about the importance of taking advantage of all visitors and taking the opportunity to welcome them.
”"In order to best welcome foreign tourists, we need to ensure that the staff has good language skills and that the payment terminals can accept foreign cards," says Mats Hedenström, head of business policy.
Above all, it is important to be treated well and to start a relationship, says Mats Hedenström.
”"If the physical visit is good, it can hopefully lead to a continued e-commerce relationship when the visitor has returned home, regardless of whether it is Luleå or London."”
Shopping tourism is growing faster than retail in general. Since the turn of the millennium, shopping tourism has increased by SEK 66 billion, which is 6 times more than Swedish e-commerce consumption from abroad last year.
Shopping tourists include both visitors to Sweden who have traveled here for the purpose of shopping and tourists who take the opportunity to shop while they are here. Tourists accounted for 13 percent of total retail sales last year. The importance of foreign visitors to physical retail is expected to become increasingly important and continue to increase over the next ten years, according to forecasts from the Swedish Chamber of Commerce.
Trade in the border municipalities of Strömstad, Eda, Haparanda, Årjäng, Åre and Tanum is particularly important, according to Svensk Handel. Additional sales increased in all municipalities, totaling SEK 14.6 billion during the year.
”"Border trade is positive as it benefits less densely populated parts of the country that otherwise have difficulty competing with the rest of the country," says Mats Hedenström.
To some extent, the border municipalities have the weak krona to thank.
”We have a "Cross-border trade with Norway continues to grow, and we can see that the future for cross-border trade looks bright. This is not only due to the weak krona, but also to some political decisions about taxes and fees that benefit trade," says Mats Hedenström.
Currency effects have also contributed to an increase in cross-border trade with Finland and Denmark.
”We have seen stronger border trade in our northern parts of the country from Norway and Finland in a way that we have not seen before, in Haparanda and Åre, for example.”
Fundamentally, however, a major problem is that the krona is weak, as it means costs for import-dependent trade.
”It's not enough to outweigh the negative effects, but the small positive part is that it will be cheaper for tourists to come here and shop,” says Mats Hedenström.
Source: TT
