13 May From our members: Meeting places and experience destinations – the core of today’s shopping malls

At HyperIn, we’ve seen during the past decades how the retail real estate market has been evolving. Tenant mixes have changed from clothing and specialty stores to food & beverage and experiences.

Same time the mall management has become more and more dependent on Big Data when planning and analysing business actions.

Retail real estate manager in 2020

Shopping malls are a great platform to run retail. They offer a unique mix of services attracting visitors. The advanced mall management today works together with their tenants with consumer communication, streamlining the important messages for their target audience. As a result, best-managed malls attract more footfall and increase tenant sales. Close co-operation – landlord and their tenants on the same side – this is the success philosophy for a retail property owner in 2020.

Thousands of daily visitors

In 2020 shopping malls are still a very important source of income for the retailers while their physical brick-and-mortar presence even increases their online sales. Malls attract thousands of visitors still on a daily basis. People are choosing to spend their time to meet their friends and are looking for new experiences. Shopping malls truly are places where people meet.

At HyperIn we have also been privileged to follow the development of how the best landlords are considering the safety issues. Having thousands of people inside their properties comes with a lot of responsibility, as well. It also involves a lot of communication towards personnel. We can fully trust that our customers are taking seriously the safety issues and they also have the proper tools for communicating with their stakeholders; personnel, tenants and consumers.

Unexpected Situation

Even during exceptional periods, the most advanced malls will make sure their all peers are well informed. The mall management team is usually prepared on how to reach everyone in the community. In practice, this means sharing instructions with their tenants and guiding the consumer communications. Confusion and unnecessary concerns can be avoided when the target audience can be reached at the right time on the shopping mall’s various channels; website, digital info-kiosks and mobile applications.

The latest and most relevant information can easily be tracked even though there will be constant updates within a short period of time. Tenants will always know the latest status of what is going on and if they need to act accordingly.

It’s always darkest before the dawn

There are always ups and downs. The latest Covid-19 crisis has been affecting almost every single one of us. After this major down there will be better times ahead coming for sure. Until then, a lot of good communication is needed. And when the better times are back, the most advanced malls are prepared to welcome again their visitors – with all kinds of exciting experiences.

Author: Hannu Käki, VP Business Development

First published at: https://blog.hyperin.com/meeting-places-and-experience-destinations-the-core-of-todays-shopping-malls-2/