Retail rent is almost never one number. A shopping-centre offer can bundle base rent, turnover rent, a service charge and a marketing levy - and in some markets a one-off key money payment on top. If you compare only the headline base rent, you can pick the wrong unit by 30% or more. Here is how retail rent is actually built, and how to compare offers on a true all-in basis.
The components of retail rent
Base rent — The fixed rent per m² per month (or per year), the headline number in most listings. Prime high-street pitches run roughly €40-120/m²/month; secondary pitches far less.
Turnover rent — A percentage of your sales paid on top of (or instead of) base rent, typically 6-12% depending on category. Often structured as a base rent plus a turnover top-up that only kicks in above an agreed sales threshold.
Service charge — Your share of running the building or centre - common areas, security, cleaning, plant. Shopping-centre service charges commonly run €5-15/m²/month; retail parks and high street are lower.
Marketing / promotion levy — A separate charge in most shopping centres funding centre-wide advertising and events, often around 10-20% of the service charge or a set €/m²/month.
Key money / pas-de-porte — A one-off, non-refundable up-front payment for the right to take a desirable unit or an existing lease, common in France, Belgium and Luxembourg. It can equal several months’ rent or more.
How turnover rent usually works
The common structure is a base rent plus turnover top-up: you pay a guaranteed base rent, and if a set percentage of your annual sales exceeds that base, you pay the difference. For example, at an 8% turnover rate, a unit doing €1,200,000 of annual sales implies €96,000/year of turnover rent - if your base rent is €80,000, you top up €16,000. Get the exact definition of "sales" in writing: does it include VAT, online orders fulfilled in store, gift cards, staff discounts and returns? That definition can swing the bill materially.
Zone A - why the front of the shop costs most
Retail rent is often valued using Zone A: the first ~6 metres of depth back from the shop window is the most valuable and is priced at the full rate; each zone deeper is "halved back" (Zone B at half the Zone A rate, Zone C at a quarter, and so on). A shallow, wide unit with a big window can therefore cost more per m² than a deep, narrow one of the same total area, because more of it sits in the valuable Zone A.
Compare offers all-in, not on base rent
- Add every line. Base rent + turnover-rent estimate + service charge + marketing levy + any key money amortised over the term = your true monthly cost.
- Model your own sales. Turnover rent is only cheap if your sales are low; run it at both realistic and optimistic sales to see the real ceiling.
- Convert to €/m²/month all-in. Only then are two units in different centres genuinely comparable.
Illustrative all-in retail cost (per m²/month)
High-street secondary — €15-40
High-street prime — €40-120
Shopping-centre unit (base only) — €25-90
Service charge (shopping centre) — €5-15
Marketing levy — ~10-20% of service charge
Can you afford it? The occupancy cost ratio
Before you negotiate a single euro, test the unit against your own sales forecast. Total occupancy cost - base rent plus service charge plus marketing levy - typically runs 8-15% of sales, depending on retail type. If a unit cannot fit inside that range on a realistic forecast, no amount of negotiating will rescue it: the pitch is simply too expensive for your trade.
Total occupancy cost as a share of sales
Discount, bulky goods, retail park — 8-10% of sales
Fashion and general shops — 10-13% of sales
F&B, cafés and restaurants — 13-15%+ of sales
Run it backwards to sanity-check an offer. A unit costing €4,000/month all-in is €48,000 a year: at 10% that needs roughly €480,000 of annual sales, and at 12% roughly €400,000. This is also why landlords quote turnover rent at 6-12% of sales - they are pricing your affordability, so the percentage they ask tells you what they believe the pitch can actually do.
