Saturday 23 February, 2013

Shopping mall Security

To be commercially attractive, shopping centres have had to inherently open areas with wide ranging access for retailers and shoppers and have been provided with copious car parking capacity. Their potential vulnerability is thus high. As in many areas involving security, however, the amount of economic analysis, even at the most basic level, of the issues involved in countering security threats to shopping malls is very limited. lysis, the paper also ranges over the situation in several other countries where this is germane to the argument.

Friday 22 February, 2013

Mall tenant mix


The variety and quality of the tenant mix within a shopping centre is a key concern in shopping centre management. Tenant mix determines the extent of externalities between outlets in the centre, helps establish the image of the centre and, as a result, determines the attractiveness of the centre for consumers. This then translates into sales and rents. However, the management of tenant mix has largely been based on perceived optimum arrangements and industry rules of thumb. Developers should  model the impact of tenant mix on the rent paid by retailers and, hence, the returns made by shopping centre developers also the relationship between rental levels and the levels of retail concentration and diversity, while controlling for a range of continuous and qualitative characteristics of each tenant, each retail product, and each shopping centre. results from this empirical analysis will allow us to generate clear analytical and empirical implications for optimal retail management A fundamental prerequisite in de-termining the potential market demand for the products or services of a prospective retailers or of agglomerations of prospective retailers, within Mall catchment, it  is a geographical delineation of the catchment containing the probable customers for such goods. thorough knowledge of the characterise- tics and limits of a catchment  is essential. The proponents of a proposed re- tail facility must have this information in order to evaluate realistically the likely success of the venture. Not only does a knowledge of the retail catchment  area provide a basis for estimating potential sales but it also makes it possible to de- termine investment requirements for land, buildings, and fixtures, as well as the kinds and extent of merchandise offerings, promotional activities, etc.
Recent changes in retail structure have created additional ways for consumers to organize their shopping trips. and  the prevalence of different shopping strategies and the impact of managerial decisions related to pricing, promotions, service, and assortment on the choice of shopping strategy. A conjoint choice is developed by many to address these questions and allows one to test whether consumer choices of shopping strategy are dependent on contextual variables such as weekday vs. weekend vs. month-end shopping.

Thursday 21 February, 2013

Mall differentiation

We carry out nonparametric tests of five hypotheses regarding shopping centre similarity. The results yield evidence of (i) shopping centre similarity (in store brands) across geographic markets for certain store types, (ii) store brand proliferation within shopping centres by multichain retailers that operate stores catering to comparison shoppers, (iii) greater similarity between malls in store types that are dominated by multichain developers , and (iv) greater similarity (in store brands) of malls owned by the same developers  than of malls owned by different developers. Shopping in India  has undergone a drastic transformation over the past two decades. Not only have product ranges expanded, but the modest boutiques and nondescript bargain basement-type stores that characterized shopping districts in the past have given way to new thinking due to drastic changes in  Indian shopping mall physical surroundings ,crowdedness, location, lighting, and interior design on consumers' emotional states and buying intentions

Wednesday 20 February, 2013

New malls , a rational approach


Shopping malls contribute to business more significantly than traditional markets, which are viewed as a simple convergence of supply and demand. Shopping malls attract buyers and sellers, and attract customers, providing enough time to make choices as well as a recreational means of shopping. However, more new malls  and competition between malls, congestion of markets and traditional shopping centres has led mall developers and management to consider alternative methods to build excitement in customers. all mall managers need to watch  the impact of growing congestion of shopping malls on shopping convenience and shopping behavior  Based on this you can see the cognitive attributes of the shoppers towards attractiveness of shopping malls and intensity of shopping , like  the ambience of shopping malls, assortment of stores, sales promotions and comparative economic gains in the malls attract higher customer traffic to the malls than high street.
In Tier II  cities, shopping malls are heralded as the new chaupals . Historically, the chaupals  was a place where diverse people came together and where politics, economics and sociability were intermingled. However, shopping centres, which are separated from the old downtown by distance or design, seem for many people to be the new heart of public and social life. The mall is intended to create community place rather than a public place. In the process of creating community.

Tuesday 19 February, 2013

How they shop ?


Consumers make numerous product decisions every day. This decision-making process depends on the information processing style employed. A key factor here is the complexity of a consumer's cognitive structures (i.e., the sophistication of the structures used to organize information). Although this construct, cognitive complexity, holds much promise for consumer behaviour, The generalizable component of cognitive complexity indicates that these knowledge structures are transferable across related product categories. As such, cognitive complexity is likely to impact consumer processing of product information
For example the relationship between consumers' decision-making styles and their choice between domestic and imported brand clothing. Based on Cognitive structures the multivariate analysis of variance and discriminate  results can show  that seven decision-making styles together with other consumer behavioural characteristics can be used to distinguish and profile consumers who prefer to buy domestic, imported or both types of clothing. consumers who prefer to buy imported brand clothing tend to have a unique lifestyle and shopping orientation that differ from those who prefer domestic brand clothing.

Monday 18 February, 2013

How to improve trading density at malls ?

Find out  six mall attractiveness factors from the shoppers' perspective: comfort, entertainment, diversity, mall essence, convenience, and luxury. Also work with  three mall shopper segments, specifically, relaxed shoppers, demanding shoppers, and pragmatic shoppers. Each segment to be profiled in terms of mall attractiveness attributes, demographics and shopping behaviour. Practical implications Identifying mall attractiveness factors for a segmented market gives a better understanding about patronage motives than when it is applied to the market as a whole. This enables mall managers to develop the appropriate retailing strategies to satisfy each segment.

Saturday 16 February, 2013

Which Mall ?

How shoppers choose one among many malls as first choice with sequential choice process . As a matter of fact, there is competitive asymmetry between shopping malls; consumers first choose a shopping mall type and then a specific shopping mall belonging to this type, the choice depends on four variables: shopping mall image, travel cost, the "first visit" factor, and "intertype competition", which relate to the impact that competition between shopping malls and other kinds of commerce / high street can have on competition between shopping malls. Each mall manager should learn as  how consumers' decision-making styles relate to their shopping mall behaviour and their  evaluations of  different shopping malls

Friday 4 January, 2013

Retail Detail 2013


The Endangered India retail - Endangered Species?

"A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him"
Look around your city and you’re sure to find at least one, and probably more, nearly vacant mall build in early 20's struggling in its boundaries. Even the Santa this year looked tired. He was pretty skinny. And his helper elf had crutches. That’s not exactly festive. Thriving place in past but today, dying. Its movie theater may remains busy, but the mall itself? The empty storefronts far outnumber the remaining holdouts.
Is it over for retail real estate ?
The death of the mall has been proclaimed over and over. Many thought it couldn’t weather the recession or would crumble from limited number of retail brands or over supply of retail space.  However, to say the mall will die is to underestimate that consumers are resilient, the mall is adaptable and people love to shop. Malls in India remain highly-valued fortress-like assets. Even now, Mall real estate developers  are able to draw equity from top institutional investors attracted to stable cash flows from long-term leases. Normally the new store in mall settle down in  three or four years but in many malls  there are headwinds to keep the consumer from bailing out the big stores opened in early 20's and is the reason old malls are finding it difficult to breath easily this winter. I don’t think we’re overbuilt, I think we’re under-demolished.  Because many  big box store model is broken on which half of the malls were filled  and anchored to secure shoppers consistently.
Lets look at 2013 through crystal ball :
There are several factors anchoring my thinking as to how 2013 will play out for the retail real estate market. I look at the market trends that have shaped and are continuing to shape the industry, the economic climate domestically and abroad, here’s my outlook for retail real estate in 2013, and what I think retailers and investors will have on their radar this year:
1. Retail development will continue to be slow. This naturally will be driven by the continued stagnancy of overall market. However, we can expect to see some small developments as the reforms continue its recovery.
2. The supply/demand equation will strengthen for landlords. Not many new developments and, strong retailers are still looking to strategically grow their footprints and store counts. It’s a matter of finding optimal locations to support these growth plans. From what I have seen, urban areas and first-ring suburbs are hot on retailers’ radar, due to their high density and established demographics. As retailers expand, available inventory will of course shrink, and the supply and demand equation will strengthen for landlords.
3. Investments outside of the India will help diversify risk and balance stability. Although the Indian reforms continue to recover slowly, India remains a safe for investments.
4. E-commerce will play an increasingly important role in retail business strategy. Thanks to online retail and changing shopping patterns, many retailers see e-commerce as a complementary component to their overall business strategy to increase sales and drive foot traffic. Developers will be increasingly working with their retailers to drive customers to their stores through e-commerce as well as social media and other technologies, and maximize their multi-channel strategies.
5. Small retailers will begin to stabilize their businesses The most widespread new strategy adopted by Big retail houses in India is shrinking the size of stores (and number of non performing stores) to bolster profitability. Many mom-and-pop shops continue to face a challenging competitive landscape against their larger competitors; however, some small retailers will begin to stabilize their businesses in 2013 even at high streets.
6. Retail real estate prices in 2013 will continue to be discriminating. We’ll continue to see higher quality properties demanding premium prices this year. This will mainly be driven by the sluggish market, combined with fear and uncertainty
7. Interest rates will remain high. Although I hate making predictions about interest rates, I’d be remiss not to include this point in our 2012 outlook. Interest rates are going to remain high for the foreseeable future, but we all know they only have one place to go — up. It’s just a question of when. So it is especially important to carefully underwrite acquisition opportunities to avoid overpaying for properties.
8. Factors outside of the industry could hamper a steep growth. It will be macroeconomic events, rather than real estate fundamentals, that have the potential to hinder the growth.
9. Small, service-oriented retailers will continue to grow. We’re seeing retail growth bent toward small, personal, service-oriented retailers will have to get very creative to slice and dice all the leftover space,. This includes smaller spas, gyms. These trends are hitting the market capitalizations of most of the largest owners of retail real estate
10. Strategic promotions will drive consumer spending in 2013. Consumers will continue to be cost conscious in 2013, and spending will be moderate. However, strategic promotions will draw consumers out of their shell over time. This of course makes it increasingly important for landlords to position their centers with strong retailers that are gaining a share of the consumer’s disposable Rups. Strong retailers will be those focused on good, old-fashioned retail operating skills to shore up their business.
10. The growth vehicles of the last two decades in Hyper market / dept stores which carry the widest selection for specific interest groups, are a threatened species This declining retailer health is directly impacting malls and shopping centers in the form of very high vacancy rates and sluggish rents—exactly what you’d expect to see where supply exceeds demand. Both factors deteriorated quickly during the economic crisis of 2008-09, but they’ve shown virtually no improvement since in spite of improved economic conditions. The recession was the catalyst, but competition from online retailers can only be the continued driver. The mall business isn’t very healthy either.
11. Some big retailers May to reduce their footprints. Like For some retailers, online has proved to be a better channel to sell certain products. As a result, these retailers are reducing their physical footprints to focus resources on their online channels. Taken together, we believe these factors portend a sturdy year for retail real estate.
12. Meanwhile, enterprising mall developers who can effectively exploit the possibilities of Situation of weal malls by weak developers are thriving and their numbers growing.