At the inauguration session of India Shopping Centre Forum (ISCF) 2015, International Expert, Jeremy Salmon, Chairman, Asia Pacific Board, Broadway Malyan spoke on the current scenario of experiential retail. He mentioned that, “Retail design is very important to attract potential customers. Shopping in the past was considered to be an activity but today it is entertainment—Shopper Entertainment. The cornerstones this continuous revolution are urbanization, technology and growth in communication. And the major focus factor involved is to know your potential customer and be culturally connected to them.”
Rajneesh Mahajan, Executive Director, Inorbit Malls highlighted how customers and his mall partners to jointly delight “OUR” customers. He shared that, “Being working in retail industry for the past 15 years, there was a problem on power generation initially, this has been now resolved. Also, since the past five years, customers are feeling delighted since the malls consist of international brands. Also, the mall size is getting bigger. Great store, good products, knowledgeable, customer-friendly staff, and good after-sales service experience all adds to the customers delight. It is very important for a retailer to understand the feelings of the customers, look at detailing in the products and services offered in order to enhance the retail journey.”
Talking on world-class leasing techniques, International Expert, Kelvin Ng, who in an illustrious career served as former Head of Retail and Commercial, CapitaLand; Senior Vice President, Ascott Holdings; Senior External Advisor, McKinsey and Co, said that, “With the success of shopping retail and many international brands coming in, the challenges faced by developers in various cities include competitive rivalry, completion, new entrants, technology, and that the bargaining power of customers are growing rapidly. One should channelize the available sources rationally to make efficient profits and pull the effective shoppers to the mall. The retailer should have a three-phase approach consisting of Research and Analysis, Positioning and Conceptualization, and lastly, Implementation.”
According to the Synergistic Real Estate Management & Network (SRE) Report —- , “About 70 percent of the new shopping malls will be in Asia out of which 50 percent of these will be in China. Regarding the urbanization drive, about 60 percent of global GDP growth will be in Asia in the next 15 to 20 years. In China, 30 community mall projects were developed in the last five years. For growth of the competitive market, there should exist a strategic partnership between investors, mall operators and developers. Factors like speed to market, co-branding and aggregate resources must be touched upon.”
Yogeshwar Sharma, Executive Director, Select CITYWALK threw light upon the new mall-mix invention saying that, “Retailers must account for constructive usage of dissonance. One should have colleagues who think like consumers. The dominant idea in the field of strategy which is that success consists of establishing a single unique competitive position which can be sustained for a long period of time is no longer relevant. Creating a portfolio of advantages that can be built quickly and abandoned rapidly will be a good learning to launch new strategic activities in the future. Every time success requires a new set of management strategies so keep upgrading.”
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