A shopping centre only gains footfall where it has an identity of its own

Average footfall at Spain's shopping centres is flat, while the gap between them keeps widening. We look at what makes a visitor stay, and how to measure it.

Author
Konstantin Burtsev, ENTORA
Date
22 June 2026
Reading
7 min
Topics
shopping centres · footfall · environment · placemaking

A shopping centre no longer competes only with the centre next door. Some of the usual reasons to make the trip have moved online: the product arrives at home, prices are compared on a phone. The question that remains is why a person would get up and travel to yours in particular.

Below: what recent footfall data shows, why some centres fill up while others empty out, and what a marketing director can do about it. With real projects and figures you can check.

At ENTORA we build environments for commercial and public spaces, and we watch how they change the way people behave inside them. If the topic is close to your work, keep this page to hand: we will come back to it in future pieces.

Average footfall is flat, and the gap between centres keeps widening

In short: overall footfall at Spain's shopping centres barely moves in 2026, but behind that average sits an ever-wider gap between one centre and another.

The Cad&Lan counting index gathers footfall from more than 1,500 counters in shopping centres across Spain. By its figures, between January and May 2026 footfall changed by +0.03% on the same period in 2025, and in May 2026 it came in at -1.25%. On average, the market is standing still.

What matters is what sits inside that average. Cad&Lan points plainly to uneven behaviour between centres ("comportamientos desiguales"): by type of centre, location and catchment area. One centre fills up while its neighbour, in the same area, empties out. In the UK, Retail Focus reports the same picture: lively locations added around 2.1% of footfall over a year, weak ones lost about as much. The market average is calm, while strong and weak sites drift further and further apart.

People travel to be somewhere

In short: buying is moving to the phone, while the physical visit rests on a reason to spend time in a place you like.

The shift in the sector over recent years is captured in a formula, "from places to buy to places to be": from places you go to in order to buy, to places where you want to be (ACROSS magazine, Placemaking 2026 review). More and more, a visit to the centre is company and time with the people close to you, and the purchase follows.

What holds the visitor is the experiential, event side beyond the retail. The product is the same everywhere, and the feeling of a place is something you cannot download or repeat in the centre next door.

What it means for a shopping centre to have an identity of its own

In short: a centre's identity is an environment with meaning, built from visible pieces in the space; it goes beyond a cosmetic refit or a redesign of the wayfinding.

By "an identity of its own" it is easy to picture a new sign or fresh tiling. This is a different level. A centre's identity is the artistic, environmental layer a person reads with the body: a dominant piece at the entrance, a route that leads them through the grounds, seasonal scenes, light, an object you want to be photographed beside.

This is work at the seam between architecture and interiors, and above them. The building and the spaces already exist. The space often has no identity of its own: it is well built and yet "empty", with no character of its own. An environment with meaning closes exactly that gap: it gives the place the recognition that makes people travel to it.

The environment makes people stay, and that is measurable

In short: an artistic environment lifts dwell time and engagement, and that feeds directly into average spend and the frequency of visits.

The effect of the environment is measured with data, beyond what the eye picks up. A study from Toronto Metropolitan University, cited by the Arrowstreet practice, shows that next to public art people linger in a zone 50% more often and view it 63% more positively. The longer they stay, the higher the chance of a purchase, a coffee, a return visit.

The same relationship shows on our projects. A strong seasonal environment for a family centre lifts both footfall and dwell time: the case with the figures is below. The environment works as a measurable asset, with a line of its own in the report, beyond the visitor's impression.

Want to understand what the environment could do for your centre? We will show you, on your own project, where the space loses its identity and which pieces of the environment will deliver the fastest effect on footfall. Through the website form or on WhatsApp, whichever suits you: get in touch.

How it looks on a real project

In short: identity is built from specific pieces in the environment, and each one counts in the footfall.

A route of figures. The 13,500 m² plot next to the centre only served as a thoroughfare. We built an art park of 58 figures at human scale and larger: the visitor slows down, walks a route from figure to figure and reaches the entrance already in good spirits. Footfall at the entrance rose by 25%, the grounds work 365 days a year, and the recycled plastic withstands outdoor use with no service costs. More on A route of figures.

The voice of the façade. A 220-metre façade was turned into a 1,760 m² media screen that reads from the motorway at speed and works as a communication channel 24/7. The centre is recognised from afar and draws footfall towards it before drivers even take the exit. A single screen carries seasonal content, tenant promotions and the centre's branding all year. More on The voice of the façade.

Both projects solve the same task: they give the centre a recognisable identity that attracts people and holds them longer.

A single project that lasts the whole year

In short: seasonal scenes turn the centre into a place people return to for a reason, and they remove the dependence on a single date in the year.

A strong environment is not spent on the opening alone. The project moves through the year: the Christmas season, spring, summer and local festivals, each with its own scene of light, sound and story. Digital and lighting scenes change with the moment and the time of day, so the centre looks different from one week to the next.

Our project "A place people return to" brought 210,600 m² of shopping centre into a single seasonal environment across four levels of perception: one unified lighting scene, an interactive train, scent-led stories in the galleries. Footfall rose by 14% on the previous season, and the design took first place as the best shopping-centre design of the season. More on A place people return to.

'We already have an architect and a designer'. So who answers for the meaning?

In short: the architect answers for the building, the designer for the rooms, and the identity of the environment stays no one's territory until a dedicated role takes it on.

A common reply when the environment comes up is 'we have our design team'. The architect answers for the form and the structure; the interior designer, for the lobby and the zones. Between their remits, and above them, sits the identity of the project: the artistic programme, the seasonal scenes and the dominant piece people travel for. That layer usually belongs to no one, which is why the space stays 'empty' after opening. We looked at this split of roles in the residential case in The architect is there, the concept lead is not.

ENTORA develops that layer in full: concept, design, engineering, fabrication and installation. The project gets a single producer of the environment, from the first idea to assembly on site, with no stitching together of ten contractors.

Where to start as a marketing director

In short: to start you need an honest audit of the empty zones and one strong dominant piece with a measurable effect, all without a big budget upfront.

The first step is to look at the project through the visitor's eyes and find the zones that only serve as a thoroughfare. The entrance, the atrium, the adjoining grounds, the transitions between galleries: where a person passes through without stopping.

The second step is to choose one dominant piece and concentrate the budget there, rather than spreading it in a thin layer across the whole centre. One strong piece at the entrance, or one through-running seasonal scene, gives an effect you can see in the figures.

The third step is to agree in advance what gets measured: footfall by zone, dwell time, mentions and posts on social media. An environment with metrics of its own stops being a cost line and becomes an asset with a clear return.

Sources

An empty space costs more than it seems: it appears in every footfall report, yet it brings no people to you. An environment with meaning turns square metres into a reason to make the trip.

We will analyse your project and show you where the space loses its identity and which piece of the environment to start with, so the effect shows up in the footfall. Through the website form or on WhatsApp, whichever suits you: contact ENTORA.