Does this retail model still meet consumer expectations? Discover how shopping center managers have adjusted their strategies in response to emerging trends. We take advantage of this article to conduct an interview with one of them. Check out our interview with Grégory Boucart, Shopping Manager at Wereldhave Belgium.
In recent years, shopping centers have experienced some periods of turmoil. However, if the health crisis has weakened them, the gloomy weather of recent months has reinforced the anticipated revival of major Belgian shopping centers. Compared to last year, Ceusters, the manager of shopping centers such as Wijnegem, Les Grands Prés, and Dockx Bruxsel, reported an 8.5% increase in visitors over the past summer. These visitors also made more purchases, as revenue increased by over 8%. It appears that for many shopping centers, the figures are even better than in 2019.
It seems that challenging times are now in the past and are more related to the aftermath of the pandemic (remember that shopping centers were closed during this period) and the energy crisis. Customers are slowly regaining confidence, but the economic context is not the only reason for this renewed interest. Indeed, many efforts have been made by shopping center owners and managers to enhance the customer experience. New challenges and buying behaviors are leading these retail players to constantly innovate and adapt, not only to current trends but also to prepare for new structural uncertainties.
To better understand their reality, we interviewed Grégory Boucart from Wereldhave Belgium, Shopping Manager at Shopping Les Bastions in Tournai.
GeoConsulting has been working with Wereldhave Belgium for many years. Our teams have been able to analyze the developments of several of their shopping centers for over 10 years. If, in the past, our work primarily focused on the alignment between supply and demand, the realities and needs of shopping center managers have evolved, and so have our support services. The cornerstone and new driving force of the attractiveness of shopping centers, customer experience has become, for all retail players, the center of attention. In the past, most shopping centers could content themselves with bringing together large attractive brands. However, the replicability of the same type of offering in numerous shopping centers has diminished its attractiveness. As the years have passed, the exclusivity of brands, their number, and their specificities have not been sufficient to remain competitive in the face of a growing e-commerce trend.
Grégory Boucart confirms this trend at Shopping Les Bastions: “For one reason or another, attendance records can vary from one shopping center to another; this can depend on a renovation or a major anniversary, for example. There are elements that create phenomena of attendance convergence or peak records, but records are made to be broken! For us, our best year was 2019. Why 2019? Because it followed a year of significant transformation between 2017 and 2018. A brand-new shopping center was emerging. We were close to 4.5 million visitors, a significant number for a catchment area of 68,000 inhabitants. After a health and energy crisis, 2023 should be another record-breaking year, with just a few visitors shy.”
« We need to focus on everything that is not dematerializable, on all real experiences, physical experiences. There are things that all computers and online experiences in the world cannot yet offer, and ultimately, it’s everything that appeals to human senses.»
We must continue to adapt to the changing market and the expectations of our current and potential visitors. Online, Amazon or Marketplace are competitors that now offer ultra-comparison services. Consumers can search for an item at the best price from wherever they are and have it delivered the next day. Trying to counter this formula would be a waste of energy and time; however, focusing on everything that is not dematerializable, on real physical experiences, is more relevant to stand out. There are things that all computers and online experiences in the world cannot yet offer, and ultimately, it’s everything that appeals to human senses. In the past, shopping centers could suffice by offering a multitude of shops to customers; now, they must offer more than that—everything that online cannot provide. The shopping center of tomorrow will be a place of life and meeting where customers come not only for the brands but also to experience culinary or leisure activities, for example.
« Everything must always be perfect! Whether visitors come for the thousandth time or for the very first time, we must ensure that it feels like the first time every day. That’s our job, that’s the challenge, that’s our main focus! »
People are becoming more demanding, and we are constantly compared. Ultimately, where our profession has truly changed is in this pursuit of perfection. Installations must be impeccable, tiles must be clean and in excellent condition, the parking lot must be cleaned, paintings must be redone in a timely manner—all of this must be checked daily. Even though Shopping Les Bastions flirts with 5 million visitors per year, new customers are joining in masses. Every day, we welcome visitors who are discovering us and are traveling increasing distances to reach us, even if we must remain realistic about reducing travel time. For all these people, whether they come for the thousandth time or for the very first time, we must ensure that it feels like the first time every day. That’s our job, that’s the challenge, that’s our main focus. The importance is no longer just having a good commercial mix.
Teams can vary greatly from one shopping center to another. It’s highly variable depending on the size of the shopping center and the owner. At Shopping Les Bastions, a team of 7 people manages operations on the ground. Ultimately, it’s all the partners we surround ourselves with to think and face the future, which may not have existed 20 years ago but bring a change, a fresh perspective on how we operate. A little nod to GeoConsulting, which probably didn’t conduct geomarketing studies 20 years ago, or at least not as in-depth. At that time, online campaigns weren’t conducted; it didn’t exist. Now, we have to stay informed and adapt to all the communication opportunities available to us.
« This is where it’s interesting to engage with companies like yours. It saves us a lot of time, pre-digests the work, which is still substantial, simplifies it, and provides clear recommendations»
In the end, being supported by a firm like GeoConsulting allows us to save a lot of time, a factor that is lacking in shopping centers. At some point, we have to delegate certain ambitions to people whose profession it is. This is where it’s interesting to turn to companies like yours. It helps us save a lot of time, pre-digest a substantial workload, simplify it, and provide clear recommendations. It’s easier to receive a report with just under 100 pages, a 2-hour presentation with all relevant stakeholders at the table, and get to work the next day with clear elements.
Our priorities in 5 years are to stay one step ahead, pay attention to market trends, understand our consumers, and that’s why we also have GeoConsulting to accompany us. In the scope of the mission, you have allowed us to understand the customer of tomorrow, who they could be, knowing that everything can obviously evolve. Five years is medium-term for us, and we must pay attention to new consumption behaviors. Will we be in a hyper-circular economy? Will we be in an economy based on well-being? Will we really be in a flourishing or, on the contrary, restrictive economy? It’s still too early to say, but we can have trends like those presented by GeoConsulting.
‘Being right too early is sometimes being wrong,’ we are also mindful of that! Creating trends is good, but we could completely miss the mark and ultimately become a warning signal for our competitors. It’s really the right balance that we have to strike, feel things out a bit without rushing too much. So, let’s keep our eyes wide open, listen, be curious about everything around us, and ultimately, the first benchmark is all the people around us.
Conclusion
Grégory Boucart’s feedback perfectly demonstrates the evolution of the challenges faced by shopping centers. Always more customer experience, always higher customer expectations, always more specialization. In this race for comparison, trends change faster than the Belgian weather, prompting industry players to conduct continuous monitoring of what customers will be looking for tomorrow.
