IS E-COMMERCE AND EXPERIENTIAL RETAIL A SUSTAINABLE METHOD TO ENSURE THE SURVIVAL OF RETAIL MALLS?

Abstract

E-commerce has been the new focus of landlords, alongside using experiential retail to bring shoppers back to malls. If these two aspects are combined into the O&O Concept (Offline and Online), how sustainable would it be in bringing shoppers back into malls?

This paper aims to meet the following objectives: (1) To understand retail trends and their impact on retail malls in Singapore; (2) To explore the different retailing elements of e-commerce and experiential retail, by looking at both local and overseas case studies; (3) To understand the success rates of these methods (i.e. lower vacancies, higher footfall and revenue).

This dissertation paper consists of both qualitative (i.e. in-depth interviews with market professionals and past research papers) and quantitative data (i.e. shopper’s survey) for the research methodology. A cross tabulation test and an independent t-test would be carried out on the quantitative data to understand shoppers’ preferences.

Overall, this study found that shoppers are focusing more on experience goods catered by experiential retailing for shoppers to experience something new, and cheaper search goods catered by e-commerce. Constantly bringing in omni-channel retailers, while refreshing the tenant mix to keep the mall’s concept fresh with value-added experiences that they are unable to find online or duplicate themselves at home, is key to entice shoppers back into the mall. Hence, feasible and sustainable retailing elements of experiential retail and e-commerce could potentially bring shoppers back into malls, ensuring the survival of malls, by staying relevant and catering to changing needs and focus of shoppers.