I have written about the fact that online shopping is not going to kill all malls. Here’s a few: Online shopping to kill malls? Not during my generation, for sure or even this one: My MUST HAVE list for malls, both old and new Come on, new couples need some place to understand one another well before they get married, right. A good mall allows both to know the brands they like in a comfortable environment. Surely, new couples would not want to sit somewhere and do online shopping together right? These days, VALUE matters more than price and I think consumers are getting smarter, especially when it comes to money. A comfortable long-sleeve shirt at the right price is by far more important than a branded but only equally as comfortable. Anyway, when was the last time our friends look at the brand we wear before deciding if they wish to continue as a friend? This is why the composition of retailers in malls are changing. New brands with good quality and more affordable prices are replacing those of good quality but higher prices.
Anyway, here’s a comprehensive article from Tan Hai Hsin, the managing director of Henry Butcher Retail. Please refer to his article in TheStar here: Malls,not dead yet. With the article, he mentioned these brands: H&M, Mango, Zara, Uniqlo, Padini Concept Store, Brands Outlet, HLA, LC Waikiki, Max Fashion, YFS and others are also invading the prime area of shopping centres. ( Out of these, my favourite stores are now LC Waikiki and Max Fashion. They really do give great value for clothing. Did you know that Zara jackets for man may be as cheap as RM249 when they no longer have full range of sizes for it? Usually, the last few random sized ones. ) He also shared one important fact too: “Bigger supermarkets that is 30,000 sq ft and above as compared to 20 years ago are now found in new shopping centres rather than hypermarkets that are 100,000 sq ft and above.” (We want to do grocery shopping when we do all other shopping and hypermarkets no longer have what it takes to complete with malls which has everything including comfortable and well stocked supermarkets)
Beyond just these, malls are now home to many new entertainment components. For example I have thoroughly enjoyed a physical experience in District 21 in IOI City Mall. It’s really challenging for someone who’s 40 okay… My wife has enjoyed the virtual reality experience in The Rift in Mid Valley Megamall and we are looking to try out the FlowRider and AirRider in 1 Utama. These are not replicable by online shopping even if we have VR specs yeah… Next would be the setting up of property sales galleries. These allow customers to drop by and enquire about potential properties to buy instead of having to drive all the way to the sales gallery. Some examples of these include WCT sales gallery in Paradigm Mall, OSK Property sales gallery in The Atria and LBS Bina sales gallery in M3 Mall. (There’s also the Sunway Property sales gallery in Sunway Velocity too) Here’s that article in TheStar.com.my for reference.
Please do agree with Mr. Tan Hai Hsin (prominent property personality) and Charles Tan (a small-time blogger) that malls that continue to keep up with latest trends will always survive the onslaught from online shopping. In fact I just came back from an indoor circus inside a mall in JB! Yes, not just cinema but an indoor circus! Here’s that story: MCM’s London Musical Circus in JB – My kids love it. Bring yours. As for online shopping, that’s going to grow bigger for me. These days, I receive stuffs on a weekly basis from Shopee.com.my which is now my favourite versus Lazada.com.my and 11street.my The latest was Mini-Force T-shirts which is a favourite show of my son. Let’s have both yeah.
written on 31 Aug 2018
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