Malls extends the offer of services to follow relevant

São Paulo-With consumer migration to online retailers, the way that shopping centers have found to not lose relevance outside the consumer is to increase the supply of services and leisure. The trend is that the movement speed, and that this type of operation occupies more and more today to trade spaces.
The vision is attested by two consumer specialists and three administrators of malls, which already feel on the skin to change the business model. The new reality of the market, however, imposes an additional challenge, linked to the profitability of the enterprises-since the rent paid for the service stores tends to be less than the amount paid by retail.
"The way [the administrators] dealing with the growth of e-commerce has been this, offer more services and entertainment stores. That trip to the Mall just to buy some product tends to decrease a lot from now on, "says the President of the Brazilian Society of retail and consumption (SBVC), Eduardo Earth.
For the Superintendent of the Morumbi Town Mall, Luiz Siqueira, the movement is a form of enterprises if anticipate changes in consumption, since migration to e-commerce is still not as consistent in Brazil. In the United States, business, e-commerce holds a considerable slice of the retail (10%). In Brazil the channel represents only 3.5% of revenues, but is growing at a rapid pace, even in crisis.
Opened almost a year ago in São Paulo, the Mall has come up with the proposal to focus on services and leisure, explains the Executive. Currently, this profile of operation accounts for 40% of the total venture stores, far above the value seen in the national market of malls.
According to data from the Brazilian Association of Shopping centres (Abrasce), services and leisure stores represent only 8% of the total of Brazilian enterprises gifts shops 100,814. Power operations represent other 13%, leaving the remaining 79% virtually for trade.
With the evolution of e-commerce, and consumer search for this profile of shopping center, the trend, however, is that the Board change drastically over the next few years already. The shopping center and retail specialist and Director of the consulting firm Make it Work, Michel Cutait, says that even in the short term "the malls will be upgrading the offerings and the mix of stores, to add more activities, food and entertainment services."
Located in São Paulo (SP), the Shopping Taboão is a clear example of traditional enterprise in recent years began to revise the mix, reinventing the business model. Three years ago, says the Superintendent of Mall, Carlos Alcantara, services and leisure operations accounted for 10% of the portfolio. Currently, the share climbed to 18%, and the prospect is that participation will increase even more, reaching 25% of the total.
Impact on profitability
The change in the model of the enterprise, however, raises concern the Executive, insofar as it affects the profitability of the operation. "Impact because the rents are lower," he explains. According to him, the amount paid by service shops used to be 15% lower than that paid by trade. The difference is because the collection takes place on top of the billing (in Taboão around 5% to 7% of monthly value). Like the recipe for a retailer is usually higher than that of a service shop, the rent is also superior.
The question of the profitability of the model was taken into account by the Morumbi shopping planning Town. "When we started the project to focus more on services and leisure had this fear, if it would be harder to monetize than a mall. But in practice the operations are doing as well or better than retail. We have seen a higher resiliency in our mix than in the traditional portfolio. "
The Shopping option for reviewing the Continental mix, expanding the choice of services and leisure, was also adopted. In the last three years, says the marketing manager, Rodrigo Rufino, at least five stores services entered the Centre, leading to participation in the segment to around 20%. According to him, besides the consumer migration to e-commerce, the Brazilian vision about the malls changed drastically and now they seek not just a location for shopping, but of convenience and leisure.
Who else should feel with the change are the traditional centres in sight of land, SBVC, are living on borrowed time ''. "The classic Mall, which only has product shop and delivery service, leisure and not experience, is dying."
The own retailers operating in the malls already have noticed the trend of change in model. During the fair the Brazilian retail (FBV), held last week, the President of C&A, Paulo Correa, stated that in the future '' nature of the malls will be more experiential than transactional. "You''re going to have to have a value of interest, a lot of relevance to justify that consumers go shopping. They will be more focused on experience and fewer malls than today. "
The fashion retailer has virtually all of its stores in shopping centres (90%). Asked by DCI on the impact of changes in the business model of own network, Correa merely say that is attentive to market movements and it will adjust the strategy based on how it is going.