Makeover for malls to keep customers
Online rivals are a threat, so centres need to pick up their game
Shopping centres have been forced to become more creative as they fight the growing impact of e-commerce. At least that's the case among some of the leading shopping centres around the world as they expand their offerings to entice customers with more events, experiences and food to keep shoppers there for longer. South African shopping centre owners have been slow to change, but the threat to local retail - though picking up - is not as marked as that faced by landlords elsewhere as more shoppers overseas buy digitally than in SA. E-commerce retail sales are higher in the UK, US, Europe and China and shopping centres in those regions have seen reduced traffic and turnover growth. Online shopping makes up about 1.5% of total retail sales in SA compared with over 13% in the US, UK and China. At the same time there are clear challenges locally as the department-store concept becomes less viable. Stuttafords has closed and Edcon is reducing its space. SA already has the sixth-highest n...
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