Asia Pacific shoppers prefer large malls, says survey

With the retail real estate evolving, consumers across Asia Pacific region prefer large shopping centres to smaller formats, according to a survey.
Asia Pacific consumers are preferring large shopping centres over smaller ones and high streets, property consultant CBRE said in a report based on the survey.
"This confirms the fact that consumers in the region highly value the overall shopping experience and variety provided by large shopping centres," CBRE Research's Asia Pacific Director Jonathan Hsu said in a release today.
CBRE interviewed 11,000 consumers in 11 major countries, including India, across the region, who were asked about their shopping preferences and how they see the future of shopping in Asia Pacific.

The study revealed that low income groups and younger generation tend to favour local high streets while 20 per cent of respondents still prefer to go to smaller shopping centres.
Over 40 per cent of consumers, however, believe that smaller shopping centres are unable to compete with the online retail market, the survey found.

"Smaller shopping centres still have a future in this region. If they are to succeed, developers must perform a high -level analysis of consumers in their catchment area; adopt the right price positioning and consider focusing their trade- mix on food and neighbourhood services," Head of Retailer Representation at CBRE Asia Joel Stephen said.

According to the report, significant improvements have been made at shopping malls over the past three years.
These improvements aim to provide consumers with a more complete 'retailtainment' experience which has been shown to drive foot traffic and increase the overall time shoppers spend at a retail destination.
The survey also revealed that online shopping is gaining significance and that shopping centre operators must be alert to the challenges posed by this retail segment.
"Whilst the outlook for the bricks-and-mortar format remains upbeat, shopping centre operators must be alert to the challenges posed by online retail," Stephen said.
Nearly 80 per cent of the respondents said they would continue to shop as often or more in a physical store. But 85 per cent said they would also shop online, half of which said they will shop even more online in the future than they do now.