PERSONAL COMMENTARIES OF PLACEMAKING EXPERTS
When international retailers and consumers think of the UK retail industry, London has traditionally dominated the outlook.
I was recently very pleased to be invited to speak at the ICSC European Retail Property School in Frankfurt, addressing a group of young delegates who were largely at the early stages of their careers.
The 7th Magdus European Outlet event was held in Paris on June 11 and 12. The main topic of the presentations was “Outlets: seizing opportunities for growth”.
For the shopping center industry sustainability has become in the past years much more than simple positioning. It is considered a relevant economic, social and environmental aspect that has a significant impact on corporate value.
Customer focus is at the very heart of what we do as a shopping center operator. That sentence is correct, but ostensibly nothing new.
The retail market is in perhaps the most interesting phase since the emergence of the internet and online trading. Technological change has made great leaps in recent years and changed consumer behavior significantly.
The last twelve months have been incredibly active in the retail business at Land Securities and this has been driven by a strategy that has completely transformed our retail portfolio by focusing on schemes that deliver dominance, experience, and convenience in their respective catchments. This transformation is best demonstrated with an in-depth look at the drivers of success that consumers and retail brands have responded to. This has ultimately resulted in having a retail portfolio that is made up of fewer properties overall, but a higher number of bigger, better, flagship centers located in prime shopping locations.
To combine the practical with the useful is a great thing and, because Copenhagen is also quite beautiful to look at in late spring, my participation in the ICSC European Marketing Conference in early June was a great experience. I enjoy the eager discussions with marketing experts from all over the world. Exchanging views and sharing is, after all, an important part of my daily work. Not infrequently, new and exciting friendships sprout on such occasions.
The world of Mobile Location Analytics (MLA), and location-based services is one of today’s fastest-growing technology sectors – and its application in property is the highest growth area of all. With a compound annual growth rate forecast at 28% for 2015 to 2019 and an estimated market size of $43.3 billion in 2019, it’s one that clearly needs to be taken seriously by all owners. Why does it exist at all?
An efficient and modern retail real estate property revolves around the principle of the division of labor, especially when leasing advertising space.
Retail warehousing in Europe has evolved rapidly as a trading format over the last 30+ years and now accounts for a significant share of both retail floor space and sales volumes. Although retail warehouses were initially developed to service the needs of “bulky goods” retailers, the attraction to shoppers of easy access and convenient free parking soon registered with other retailer groups. Increasingly, fashion, footwear, sports, and household goods retailers have committed to out-of-town formats where planning conditions permit.
The concept of what constitutes a good “brand” is not always clear in a retail context, let alone within the shopping center world. It is tempting, and indeed quite common, simply to refer to a brand by name – the world’s great brands such as Apple, Coca-Cola, Louis Vuitton etc. are instantly recognized by name. But what’s in a name and what makes a great brand?
The United Nations has designated 2015 as the International Year of Light, a global initiative to raise awareness of the importance of light and light–based technologies. The campaign (www.light2015.org) aims to highlight how dependent we are on light for our very existence and human development and to explore how science and lighting technology have combined to create solutions in energy, education, and health.
Customers are constantly being offered more opportunities and methods for consumption, both online and offline. Every retailer has to recognize and follow this trend in order to avoid losing out to the competition. We must find a combination of e-commerce, mobile apps or social media, and traditional retail stores. Today’s end consumers are digitally networked at all times and around 63% of buyers use devices like mobile phones and tablets to learn about products in advance or to buy them online.
At the recent opening of a shopping center that I attended, one of the guests remarked: “Let’s be honest, it’s turned out beautifully, but no one here needed the center!” Conversation came to a brief stop, followed by a rapid return, owing to the joyous occasion and the presence of the owner, to the small talk that is usual at such events.
These days, there has been a large debate about the crises of the bricks-and-mortar trade and the threat from e-commerce.
These days, there has been a large debate about the crises of the bricks-and-mortar trade and the threat from e-commerce.
New projects always involve necessary preparations: We investigate which cities might make sense for us and our customers, look at purchasing power, traffic, development, and infrastructure plans for each region, etc., and define the most appropriate place for a potential retail or logistics property on the basis of the parameters analyzed.
Not a day goes by in which we aren’t warned by crystal-ball-gazing apologists of every type about the demise of over-the-counter retail in general and of shopping centers in particular. Our only experiences of the world will be virtual ones or – at the very least – we will produce everything at home on our own 3-D printers.
Despite an upturn in the UK shopping center market, few UK towns still warrant retail investment and landlords are looking to refurbishment to drive value. With core retailers still focused on larger hubs, secondtier assets need to ensure they are not left behind.
