Please activate JavaScript!
Please install Adobe Flash Player, click here for download
ePaper created 2015-05-08, 10:57:20 | version 1.38.0
27Deutsche EuroShopANNUAL REPORT 2014 CENTER I t will change constantly and will serve as a meeting point, a place of social interaction. It will be a destination for events, placing the emphasis on service and performing a wide range of functions. And, crucially, it will be highly flex- ible. These are the findings reached by international real estate services organisation Cushman & Wakefield (C&W) in its report entitled “Sur- vival of the Fittest”. The report sum- marises the results of an extensive survey conducted by Cushman & Wakefield among Europe’s largest and most active shopping center investors. Together, the survey re- spondents own almost 1,500 shop- ping centers in Europe, equivalent to 20% of all European shopping centers. The shopping center landscape is undergoing a phase of fundamen- tal change. This is true not only in Germany, but in Europe and the rest of the world. The C&W study was designed to identify the reasons for this change and to show where the journey could lead in future. One key insight was that market participants named e-commerce as the most im- portant driver behind this transfor- mation. Yet it is just one of many factors. All players agreed that the change is being driven by a combina- tion of e-commerce, macroeconomic flows, demographic changes, sustain- ability and increasing globalisation. Lessors focus on the tenant mix The C&W study shows that lessors throughout Europe have developed an extensive set of measures designed to position their centers successfully for the future. The current focus is on the tenant structure and ensuring a wide variety of food and drink offer- ings. Through these measures, les- sors hope to increase both customer frequency and the time spent within the center. The desired expansion of services therefore also includes ad- ditional leisure facilities. Lessors are additionally keen to provide a more dynamic tenant mix. Increasing demands on center design and management To position their shopping centers TV, Internet, newspapers, radio, etc.) and the analysis of extensive custom- er data (known as “big data”). Mobile technologies are indispensable As the “Survival of the Fittest” study makes clear, mobile technologies are vital for future success. Many shop- ping centers already provide interac- tive screens, dedicated websites and apps, as well as free Wi-Fi. Howev- er, others are already looking further ahead and some UK shopping cent- ers broke new ground in 2014 by in- troducing so-called “beacons”: small transmitters that use Bluetooth Low Energy technology and are installed in shops or around the center. The transmitters can communicate with customers’ smartphones as soon as they enter the vicinity. If a custom- er has installed a smartphone app for the shop or center, the program can scan his or her purchase history and send suitable offers. And it is al- most certain that beacons will soon be followed by “wearables”: porta- ble computer systems that remain at- tached to the user’s body during use. Wearables can be sewn into cloth- ing or worn as a bracelet (e.g. sports watch) or glasses. These wearables will make it possible to record the customer’s desired purchases and display corresponding product or service offers directly while shop- ping – embedded in social media. Changing relationship between lessors and lessees The survey results indicate that the relationship between lessors and les- sees will change in future. The more dynamic tenant mix desired by own- ers is expected to result in more flexi- ble and shorter lease agreements. Ne- gotiations must also be conducted to determine how the costs associated with the expected service offerings are included in the lease calculation, and how to handle sales conducted online rather than in store. Winners and losers Given the many factors currently having an impact on shopping cent- ers, it is hard for investors to iden- tify the winners and losers of the future. The size of a center will not be a decisive factor in future. Large centers designed for the entire fam- ily and offering entertainment fa- cilities will have their place, as will smaller, city-center galleries that address a particular consumer seg- ment. It is, however, essential for a center to have a strong identity and a proper justification for its existence. We also know now that a forward- looking center must be innovative, and the center manager must bring to the table a very good grasp of con- sumer needs, retail, technology and real estate. In Germany, we are cur- rently seeing some very good ideas in this area. Our study shows that Ger- man investors have seized the chal- lenges posed by e-commerce and are already responding on a wide scale. They are therefore positioned ahead of market participants in France and the US, and are beaten only by center operators in the UK. C successfully, investors are not only looking for more attractive center designs but also proactive and flex- ible management. The study partici- pants are well aware that, in future, shopping centers must be more than just palaces of consumption in order to survive. They expect managers of shopping centers to organise events and expand the services on offer, among other things. The accelerated roll-out of incentive programmes is also intended to improve customer loyalty, as is the implementation of multi-channel marketing strategies (the use of diverse channels, such as The shopping center of the future will be urban and will offer good links to public transportation. » The shopping center landscape is undergoing a phase of fundamental change. by Inga Schwarz, Head of Research at Cushman& Wakefield in Germany The shopping center of the future Technology gives the edge