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Retail: Shopping MallS The science of tapping sWalk and gateway – accounted hopping in major retail malls – the likes of sandton City, Canal into shopping mall for a whopping r407-billion in spend in 2013. Yet what actually happens at this coalface, where supply and demand meet, is little understood. consumers market. We have information from the Yes, there is a lot of data in the all media and product survey (amps), the unilever institute, FutureFact and avusa’s Wealth survey in the private South Africa’s shopping malls generate enormous retail sector. statssa weighs in with a number revenue. Yet, until now, relatively little independent of national projects and data sources. But these studies are more focused on research has been done to understand the millions consumers, citizens and employees. Brand activation and excitement can be best optimised in the larger malls of people who shop there. By Kerry Chipp. When it comes to the behaviour of people in the shared environs of a Malls are not created equal shopping mall, there is very little that is super-regional malls, such as menlyn collected for the marketing profession in pretoria and gateway in umhlanga, Shoppers are as a whole. malls and retailers can, and have a different role in shoppers’ lives do, collect their own research – but this to those of regional malls like gugulethu not entirely is both proprietary and through the lens square in Cape town and southgate in driven by planned of the individual retailer or mall. johannesburg, which means different behaviour For the shopportunities study, the areas of focus for the owners. gordon institute of Business science larger malls are all about the (giBs), with the assistance of primedia experience, the variety of offerings and unlimited mall division’s sponsorship, the ability to provide excitement. these Tenant mix aimed at providing the frame for a view are destination spots – the ‘third place’ anchor tenants still generate the of what happens at the mall – both in after the frst and second places of the majority of traffc, with the biggest pull terms of why people think they go and home and workplace. being generated by the large clothing, what they actually do when they are regional malls, on the other hand, food and department stores. What was there. it was important to giBs to be are about making the necessities in surprising in our results was that the as scientifc as possible, so we went people’s lives happen. these are the less frequent shopping occasions – for a rolls-royce sampling method of spaces where people pop in for top-up such as the purchase of medical items, stratifed random sampling across time shopping, run to the bank and visit the books and furniture – generate larger of day, and day of week, in seven major local coffee shop. so navigation and numbers of traffc for the large (anchor) malls in three provinces. our sample ease of access is more important than tenants than these tenants do in return. was a robust one of 4 200 people. comfort and experience. For example, it makes sense shoppers, as pointed out by michelle if malls are not created equal, it is that clothing shoppers will exhaust van trotsenburg of Y&r (‘Why the age of the larger malls where brand activation themselves across clothing brands shopper marketing is upon us’, Strategic and excitement can be best optimised. and have no need for cellular phone Marketing February-march 2014) are super-regional malls are where new products. the cellular phone shop, different to consumers because they are brand offerings should be made, however, will bring people in for a not necessarily the end users of what whereas regional malls are about specifc purpose and then many of they buy. We found that they are also helping people with their daily tasks. these wander into the anchor category not entirely driven by planned behaviour the larger malls are very good for stores on their way out. the lesson PHOTOS: supplied and are open to the environment and activations and events that generate here is: never underestimate the impact that unplanned shopping by patrons excitement, while regionals are good respond to its stimuli. What does this Malls need to be aware of the placement of coffee bars in among the anchor tenants, in order to capitalise on the mean for marketers? let’s look at the for more personalised taste tests and of the smaller tenants can have on the opportunistic nature of spending by certain shopper groups take-out from different perspectives. individualised client engagement. anchor stores. >> 16 16 strategicmarketing August–September 2014 strategicmarketing August–September 2014 August–September strategicmarketing 17