Retail sales space in Austria is shrinking

The study shows that large cities such as Vienna and Graz are not the leaders in terms of retail space per capita. It is smaller and medium-sized cities such as Wiener Neustadt, Steyr, Wels and two provincial capitals – St. Pölten and Klagenfurt – that boast with a disproportionately high retail space density. Overall, however, the density of retail outlets in Austria is very high by international standards.

The decline is expected to continue

However, the size of the retail sector in Austria has been declining steadily for more than a decade. This process is mainly due to the changed circumstances caused by e-commerce and the current slowdown in shopping. Moreover, the downward trend is expected to continue slowly but steadily in the future.

The retail space per inhabitant is currently around 1.56 square metres, compared with 1.77 square metres in 2014. This decline affects all types of locations, including city centres, shopping centres and retail parks. Shrinking retail space can help businesses cut costs while meeting the needs of consumers who are increasingly shopping online.

According to RegioData, the exit of drugstore chain Schlecker is also responsible for the downward trend in retail footprint. As a result, a number of stores, particularly large ones, disappeared from the market in one fell swoop and since then (2013) the retail space has been continuously shrinking.

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