ISCF 2017 starts on a high, to explore 3-way profitability mix for shopping centres

The 10^th edition of India Shopping Centre Forum (ISCF 2017) is being held from May 10 – May 11, 2017 at Hotel Renaissance, Powai. ISCF is a market intelligence and business development destination for businesses and professionals engaged in any and every stage of the retail real estate ideation, design, construction, leading, marketing and management value chain.
The mission of ISCF is to redraw the prototype of real estate’s most promising asset class in India, thereby building the blueprint of success for the future of the Shopping Centre industry in India.
The theme for this year’s ISCF is “The 3-Way Profitability Mix for Shopping Centres In The Digital Age: Retailer Engagement, Experiential Differentiation, Asset Management”. This year, the event will witness stalwarts from the Shopping Centre industry, who will share notable insights on current trends through various interactive sessions.
The list includes some of India’s most renowned developers and Shopping Centre professionals like Abhishek Bansal, ED, Pacific Malls; Mukesh Kumar, Senior VP, Infiniti Mall; Pushpa Bector, Executive VP and Head – Premium Malls Division, DLF Mall of India; Rajneesh Mahajan, CEO, Inorbit Malls.
More stalwarts, including thought-provoking Retail professionals like Javier Sotomayor, MD, Cinépolis India; Sanjeev Rao, Director – Business Development, Raymond; SumeetSoni, Director – Commercial, Benetton Group and Vasanth Kumar, Executive Director, Lifestyle International – Max Retail also took part in panel discussions.
ISCF 2017 kick started with a Research Presentation by Karthik Gurumurthy, Principal, A.T. Kearney on ‘What In-Demand Retail ClientsWant From Shopping Centers’. This was followed by presentation by Pankaj Renjhen, Managing Director – Retail Services, JLL India and Anish Puri, Assistant Vice President, Retail Advisory, JLL India on Future Proofing Retail Spaces.
Setting the tone right, moderator of the session, Chairman JLL, Anuj Puri, mentioned that in 2016, more malls shut down than opened. However, the scenario is changing now. So as to keep the momentum going, where do the retailers and mall owners think they will be in three-five years.
Elaborating on the future of malls, ED, Pacific Malls, Abhishek Bansal emphasized that adaptability and flexibility are the two mantras that will help the malls in weaving a success story.
In order to keep the interest of the consumers alive, Pushpa Bector revealed that DLF Mall of India has decided to churn around 100 brands in the mall in every 3-4 years as the mall has to be future ready. The second key to success is to ensure flexibility on the weekly basis.”
She further added that as the future goes the retail real estate has to look at three cornerstones – how to create flexible retail spaces, how to get technology imbibed into the retail real estate space and how retail real estate is a business wherein digital world converges into the real world.
Digital is the buzz word which is taking the industry by storm but Sanjeev Rao from Raymond thinks that it is an enabler. Explaining the same that he revealed, “Raymond is going to be Omnichannel in coming few months. So, if the customer likes something on line and want to touch and feel the product, the brand will provide the concierge service and also trying other permutation and combinations. The brand is also entering Tier III, IV and V cities by opening mini TRA stores. So, the idea is to serve the small peripheral town near and around Tier I and II cities as they are developing real fast. The brand will also be putting the digital interface in these towns, so that customers can find more options if they do not like anything at the store.”
Retail is an innovative industry, full of energy and positive change, which makes it possible to connect with the consumer in newer, more dynamic ways than ever before, and Shopping Centers are the pillar of this experience. One of the most exciting things about retail is that we never know what’s around the corner, while a Shopping Centre once designed and built needs to be relevant for the next 10-15 years. Yet, at the same time we need to understand what’s evolving, where possible, in order to align activitiesin the retail spaces business with continually changing consumer behavior patterns.
To get Shopping Centres and Retail Businesses off to the right start to redraw the retail roadmap for the Omnichannel and Digital era, ISCF 2017 gets insights from India’s top retailers on changing expectations from Shopping Centres, and what developers need to look at in building successful shopping centres which are coveted by retailers of prestige.