Mixing business with pleasure

A happy customer is not only more willing to spend money in a mall, but will also return to it sooner and more frequently, while recommending it to their friends. All of this is of crucial importance in the era of Facebook and social media. “A shopping centre manager is responsible not only for attracting customers into the facility but also for keeping them there longer. This increases the chance of a completely spontaneous purchase as a result of being impressed by a shop window or an advertisement displayed on an LED screen, for example,” remarks Elio Szmawonian,a board member of Mayland Real Estate responsible for the property management department. Advertising makes trade go round – and this statement is no exaggeration. The equation is simple. In order for tenants’ turnovers to grow, people have to come to a centre and leave their money with the cashiers. On-line retail is still not having a significant enough impact to disrupt this. However, while its importance should not be downplayed, managers still need to be prepared to fight over non-virtual customers. “We have to realise that new technologies are affecting people’s shopping habits. The internet provides the opportunity to select purchases and save as much time as possible in a centre,” claims Elio Szmawonian. So let’s see how much a visit to a mall can be turned into a pleasure for all the parties involved in this business: the customers, the tenants and the shopping centre owners.

What do shoppers now expect?
This is a difficult question, but it is the most important one when planning a shopping centre’s offer. In what direction are customers’ expectations heading? What needs to be done to satisfy these requirements? It is not only at the stage of designing a centre that answers need to be found to these questions, but such questions are also asked of the managers looking after a centre once it is in operation. Recognising the changes in customers’ requirements has enabled the introduction of new elements to enliven a mall. “Today’s consumers usually go shopping for two reasons: because they need to and it’s convenient, or just to enjoy the experience of shopping itself. A customer who appreciates speed and convenience usually does the shopping once a week and goes to a supermarket or hypermarket in order to look for basic products. They do not spend more than an hour in the centre. They want easy access and so choose one close to their homes. On the other hand, people who appreciate the experience of shopping are prepared to travel further afield and spend the whole day in the centre, but they want to visit one with a broad fashion offer and a full range of services. Such a consumer expects there to be a large selection of restaurants and cafés; they want to be able to go to the cinema or see a special event organised in the centre,” claims Shane Scott, a partner at Resolution Property, which is carrying out the extension of Galeria Pomorska in Bydgoszcz. Tomasz Ciąpała, the vice-president of the board of Lancerto, adds: “Poles have become convinced that malls are now very similar to each other in terms of their offer and brands. This is why customers are more eager to choose centres with easy access, friendly service and a wider selection of shops offering the products they are interested in. In my opinion the most important issue is avoiding barriers, which on the manager’s side include parking fees, over-zealous security or the lack of parent-and-child friendly places. Tenants, on the other hand, can create barriers themselves in the form of unqualified staff who are not familiar with basic customer service principles,” says the representative of the men’s clothing chain. Thanks in part to the wide number of tools that customers have at their disposal these days they have certainly become more discerning. So a manager has to create a place where apart from doing the shopping you can spend time in a worthwhile way without a sense of it being wasted. “We have carried out surveys of our customers. We know what they like. Above all they like attractive prices and the marketing campaigns held in the centre. People like being in the mall, it is actually a lifestyle spot where they can enjoy themselves. Customers are becoming more and more aware of their needs and purchasing possibilities. They know when they can expect price reductions and know exactly where to look for the information on discounts and promotions,” points out Maciej Barański, the marketing manager of Echo Investment responsible for the marketing of Galeria Echo in Kielce.
Managers are keen to emphasise that the people who visit their centres appreciate the integration and social opportunities offered. These provide customers with an experience that cannot be bought on the internet and are a way of combining business with pleasure. The entertainment offer also adds to the sense that the mall is something more than just a collection of shops – it can also be a good place for customers to pursue their interests. “Before acquiring Galeria Pomorska we were aware that the centre would not generate higher footfall in the form it was in at the time. So we started responding to customers’ needs. We replaced the not so popular bowling alley with a Helios cinema. We invested in the food court and introduced a number of new brands. We refreshed the centre by installing new signs, furniture and lighting. And now we are extending it to introduce an even broader offer, including fashion,” declares Shane Scott. If you look closer at what malls are now offering, you can see that owners are reacting to these new challenges. Play areas with a free child-minding service are becoming more common, as well as fitness clubs and a richer selection of relaxation, catering and service areas. “Our aim is to make the mall a place for the entire family, where everyone will find something interesting for themselves. The ‘fun garden’, which we opened last year, is the most popular place in the centre for families. Children are professionally cared for, fathers can have a moment to themselves and women – which they like most – have time for some undisturbed shopping. There are a variety of events held at Galeria Echo almost every weekend and our customers are now used to the fact that they can always count on good quality entertainment in our centre. Thanks to these activities our customers leave fully-satisfied,” claims Maciej Barański.

Friendly place
When a potential customer walks through the door of a shopping centre and is registered as a visitor, this is only half the battle. Afterwards it’s the managers’ and tenants’ turn: the visitor needs persuading to be a customer. However, before this happens they first have to get to the mall. Ideally there should be no obstacles in the way of doing so. “Easy access to a shopping centre is very important. So you need to look after the infrastructure around it, including the car park. A free car park is always attractive for customers, and, if possible, we always try to provide this for our facilities. However, there are situations when charging a fee is advisable or even welcomed by customers, as was the case for Aura in Olsztyn [the former Alfa Centrum – editorial note], where due to its location in the centre of the town the car park was also used by people who were not necessarily going shopping but still parked in spaces meant for genuine customers. Good infrastructure and a lack of fees are particularly important in centres that combine retail parks with malls, like in the case of the Ferio mall in Stare Miasto. In such cases a car park is mostly used by the customers and suppliers. You need to make sure that everything runs smoothly,” explains James Turner, the managing director of Balmain Asset Management. However, easy access, a suitable number of parking spaces and good navigation are not enough. Specially designated areas for families with children are becoming more common, which also helps to position a given mall. Corridors and passageways are equally as important. This is where customers can see the offer of the centre. And this not only about the shop windows. Advertisements can also be displayed on digital screens, which can additionally provide information or entertainment if they are installed near the relaxation or food court areas. “Thanks to these people who arrive at the centre can feel part of the community which is built around the place,” claims Elio Szmawonian. The music that can be heard in the corridors is also played to encourage visitors to shop. Every shop has, of course, its own repertoire designed for its particular customers. But it is along the main passageways that you can hear what the facility manager wants you to hear. So the music played in the centre will certainly inform us about upcoming holidays or Valentine’s Day, for example. “These are, of course, elements that reinforce the shopping effect. They do not determine the amount of money spent directly. You need to remember that they have to be skilfully used. The music cannot be too loud and it mustn’t distract customers or turn their attention away from shopping,” says Elio Szmawonian. Sometimes the skilful usage of marketing tools makes it possible to act in a completely non-standard way. Apart from the music and the LED screens, such devices as discount machines have been installed. “Campaigns related to discount machines, based on the idea of a lottery, are very popular, which translates into tenants’ sales revenue. The last time we did this, the shoppers scanned over 150,000 receipts and received 70,000 discounts from the retailers in three weeks. The results speak for themselves – we will be continuing the programme. Perhaps this will sound immodest, but we have perfected this promotion,” insists Maciej Barański.

Common business
The manager is the ‘minder’ of a centre, but tenants also influence the turnover of their stores. In June research company International Service Check carried out a shopping satisfaction survey. ‘Mystery shoppers’ visited 162 shops of 54 brands located in twenty malls across Poland. The most appreciated elements in the ranking were the appearance and atmosphere of the stores, but as many as 64 pct of the ‘mystery shoppers’ who took part in the survey stated that the service in the shops left a lot to be desired. “Nothing attracts people more into shops than the awareness that they will be well served. Thanks to employees who are helpful and, first of all, know what they are selling, a customer is happy and is eager to comes back to the outlet,” claims Elio Szmawonian.
Tenants also see the need for more involvement from their side, but they indicate other important factors that determine the financial success of operating in a mall. “Our customers tend to be men, the majority of whom are not ‘explorers’ of new collections and stores. The easier it is for them to find a tenant offering men’s fashion in a given centre, the better the sales, particularly in large malls. A suitable product range and tenant involvement is the second main factor, the third being rent terms that take into account the specifics of the particular retail segment. Another important factor is to locate shops from the same segment, such as those that offer men’s fashion, next to one another. This greatly increases the convenience for men who, according to our latest research, more often than women make well thought-out purchases of clothes after comparing what is on offer in a number of stores,” explains Tomasz Ciąpała. A conscious, well-educated customer needs to receive perfect service, because only a professional and genial shop assistant can win the battle with the apparently omniscient Google and the wealth of products available on-line. This is certainly one of the factors that differentiates virtual and real sales.
Another significant issue is the merchandising (increasing the sales efficiency through the goods presentation method). Much can be read in the trade press recently about the new interior designs of popular brands. Those that have transformed their stores include Reserved, Top Secret, Lancerto, Zara and Sephora. This has not only been accomplished merely through the adoption of more fashionable decor, but also through the better exposure of products and the arrangement of the space. However, this is still not a very well appreciated aspect of how an outlet functions within a mall. “The role of merchandising has been gaining in importance. This is a crucial tool that can even give the customer an impression of the brand’s positioning without them having been previously acquainted with the brand. According to what we have observed, there is still a shortage of specialists in this field and the demand for such knowledge and skills has been growing rapidly,” comments Tomasz Ciąpała. The constant improvement of the offer and the increasing quality of customer service is bearing fruit. Shop owners can find this out for themselves, but managers who might wish to motivate their partners can help them to adopt such an approach. “We have a very interesting project in our centres called ‘Best-seller’, which is addressed to our tenants. Every month we reward the sales team with the highest increase in turnover compared to the same month of the previous year. The winners receive attractive financial awards and we feature them on our Facebook fan page, our website, our internal bulletin, as well as in the local media. Thanks to these activities we can motivate the other retailers to improve their activities, while customers can see that we prioritise the best service,” declares Maciej Barański.