Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa Real Estate Investor Magazine - November 2017 | Page 42

RETAIL
Redesigning
The Shopping Mall
Emphasising experience
A
s retailers and malls around the world have come under
pressure due to the growth of online shopping, and with
changing consumer shopping habits reshaping the retail
world, shopping malls are having to re-invent themselves and be-
come lifestyle and event destinations. The idea is to substantially
extend a mall’s attraction, lengthen shopper stay, and even increase
revenue for tenants by embracing being a retail destination hub
that offers a mix of great restaurants and fast food offerings as well
as positioning the mall as an entertainment, art and music hub.
Entertainment and attractions
‘Retail-tainment’, coined by American sociologist George
Ritzer in 1999 describing it as ‘the use of sound, ambience,
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NOVEMBER 2017 SA Real Estate Investor Magazine
emotion and activity to get customers interested in the mer-
chandise and in the mood to buy’ has come into its own in
today’s volatile market, where shopping malls have to compete
not only with each other for foot traffic, but with the growth
of e-commerce and home-entertainment.
Many international malls focus on family fun – with chil-
dren’s play areas, video game arcades, bowling alleys and ad-
venture rides to give customers a reason to make a visit to their
mall and a reason to stay. Others make shopping more inter-
active with concept stores that mix goods, design and social
channels and allow shoppers to try out the latest electronic
gadgets and gizmos.