Artist impression: Oceans Umhlanga Mall
‘It is imperative to match the right anchor tenant with the
surrounding community’s needs and preferences, so this is our
first priority,’ says Ebrahim Parker, CEO of FPG Property Fund.
‘The hardest task is to fill the centre with the right tenants that
we believe will be sustainable over the long term, and not simply
accept the first one that is interested. At the same time, tenants
must remain flexible enough to adapt to change as customer
profiles and demands change,’ he says.
Professional guidance is provided by companies like Retail Africa
and Retail Detail, which specialise in retail planning, taking into
account many factors such as anchor versus line shop ratios, and
food and beverage versus retail ratios.
Ryan Bloom, partner at Retail Detail, explains that each retailer
is grouped into a type, e.g. clothing and merchandise, and their
lease space is calculated as a ratio against income produced for
the property landlord. ‘You can soon see what and where the good
tenants are, which in turn informs the leasing team in terms of how
much space to allocate and where,’ he says.
TECHNOLOGY
In determining what the local market wants, technology is
increasingly being used. Foot traffic is data-tracked, and the
shopper market is digitally researched to determine their needs
and mindset.
‘We use a digital methodology called environment media mapping
(EMM), which analyses shopper flow into various areas of the retail
space like parking, food court, supermarket, etc. It also gauges
how l ong the shopper spends in these areas,’ explains John Faia,
GM of Mall Ads, which is a division of the Provantage Media Group
that manages usage of non-GLA spaces in retail precincts.
Similarly, T-Systems, a global IT services and consulting company,
offers out-of-store retail analytics that monitor people flows,
indicating where customers are going, where they came from and
when – and in what numbers.
These statistics are then visually shown on a user-friendly
dashboard, creating a comprehensive resource that makes the
smart retail vision a profitable reality.
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