Please activate JavaScript!
Please install Adobe Flash Player, click here for download
ePaper created 2015-05-08, 10:57:20 | version 1.38.0
31Deutsche EuroShopANNUAL REPORT 2014 CENTER G reen Street Advisors, for instance, forecasts that every seventh mall in the USA will become re- dundant over the next ten years, and the well-known retail consultant, Howard Davidowitz, even expects that half of all American malls will close in the next 15 to 20 years! In our globalised world, it is how- ever important to keep in mind that trends by no means take the same shape in all countries. Adequate consideration needs to be given to local factors. In this respect, the above statements from the USA with its extremely high mall densi- ty cannot necessarily be transferred to European cities and retail struc- tures. Instead, it is essential to take consumer habits, retail structures and their history into account. Tapping into basic consumer needs The success of shopping centers is increasingly being driven by their ability to think beyond purely (and hopefully coherent) sales-related conditions (location, catchment area, purchasing power, population devel- opment, etc.) and tap into various basic consumer needs. The centers trigger a wide range of associations and, from the consumer perspec- tive, serve different needs that relate to different goals, results and expe- riences. In our view, the shopping center industry in Germany must and will focus its efforts more on the custom- er so that they can offer consumers what they really want in the modern online/offline world. It has less and less to do with merely selling prod- ucts in the traditional sense: Ger- many’s refrigerators and wardrobes are already full. The centers of the future will need to do a careful bal- ancing act, fine-tuning their empha- sis on the shopping experience and shopping outcome to suit what mo- tivates customers to visit the shop- ping centers. The four customer motivations Focus group surveys have identified four key motivations for people to visit shopping centers. The motiva- tions vary in terms of expectations of the shopping experience and the shopping outcome (dynamic change vs. stability, desire vs. control). The four motivations are inspiration, re- laxation, efficiency and pragmatism. They are generally based on the fol- lowing: • Motivated by inspiration = being a part of something/being inspired, satisfying curiosity, seeing trends, diversion/entertainment/entice- ment. • Motivated by relaxation = being pampered/feeling good, having a nice time in a safe and comfortable environment, relieving stress. • Motivated by efficiency = smart shopping/proving something, finding the best deal, seeing eve- rything, in the sense of being in control. • Motivated by pragmatism = ful- filling obligations/making things easy. Shopping systematically and saving time/effortless, buying things, running errands. The shopping centers of the future will therefore focus much more on what motivates their customers to come to their facilities and create customer loyalty by considering the social and emotional components. Depending on what motivates con- sumers in a particular catchment area to visit a shopping center and how their motivations are weighted, the centers will emphasise different as- pects related to convenience, experi- ence, surprise, luxury, discounting, entertainment, culinary offerings, sports, health, education, social in- teraction, networks, etc. Food and restaurants From a less “sophisticated” and com- pletely practical perspective, because food is currently not particularly suit- ed to online sales and is likely to re- main that way, it offers shopping centers good potential to develop cus- tomer loyalty. Shopping centers that offer high quality and freshness will be able to increase fundamental frequen- cies. And, shopping centers with large enough catchment areas can accom- modate the increasing importance of eating out, particularly if they also benefit from tertiary concentrations of employment in the surrounding area. Food courts and different kinds of eat- eries can help increase visitor numbers and encourage them to spend more time in the shopping center. Centers with their own identity Unlike virtual online retail, the activ- ity of shopping or the overall experi- ence in a shopping center takes place in buildings. In our opinion, the de- sign and architecture of these build- ings offer the potential to create cus- tomer loyalty, an aspect that was often underestimated in the past: through the open feel of the building, the ex- perience of space, the choice of ma- terials, and the interior and exterior look and feel. This is about much more than just pure functionality, which should be preserved at all costs. It will become increasingly important to give the center an identity, thereby creating added value for visitors. Individuality and constant change None of the aforementioned points are in any way novel. What will, how- ever, make the difference are the in- dividual identities/combinations of the shopping centers. The developer and thereafter the center management have to choreograph all of these ele- ments in collaboration with the retail- ers and such (re)alignments obviously also need the approval of the owner. The German shopping center in- dustry is therefore faced with chal- lenges and changes but is by no means starting from scratch. It is more of an ongoing process. Already in the last few years, a higher level of profes- sionalism and a dedicated will to un- derstand and implement the afore- mentioned aspects has been evident. The shopping center of the future is no mirage: we will all experience it – in lots of different ways! C A report from the GCSC ThinkTank Shopping centers Nothing will stay the sameLooking closely at recent reports from the motherland of shopping centers, what is noticeable is that many articles in the US media paint a largely bleak picture implying that the era of the shopping mall is at an end. GCSCThinkTank The GCSC ThinkTank is an unaffiliated interdiscipli- nary group of experts who concern themselves with issues related to retail and retail properties, on a vol- untary basis. In its work the Think- Tank aims to develop hy- potheses, analyse the themes of the future and identify ideas and opportu- nities for the industry. The observations and findings of the ThinkTank are pre- sented to the members of the GCSC and professional circles and published in the form of specialist reports. » The centers of the future will need to do a care- ful balancing act, fine-tuning their emphasis on the shopping experience and shopping outcome. A10 Center, Wildau/Berlin F.l.t.r.: Till Dunemann/ECE, Sebastian Mül- ler/GfK, Rolf Pangel/Galeria Kaufhof, Kersten Peter/mfi, Olaf Petersen/Com- fort, Rainer Pittroff/EHI