SHOPPING MALLS AS THIRD PLACES: IMPACT OF THIRD PLACE ATTRIBUTES ON RETAIL PERFORMANCE OF MALLS IN ORCHARD

Abstract

‘Third Place’ refers to a regularly visited location that is outside of the home and workplace / school. This study seeks to examine whether possessing third place attributes improves the shopping mall’s likelihood of success by increasing mall patronage and consumer expenditure.

248 shoppers from four malls in Orchard were surveyed and the results highlighted that third place attributes did improve retail performance, as shopping malls that had higher third place attribute scores enjoyed higher consumer patronage and expenditure. However, it was found that depending on the specific mall, third place attributes had varying association with consumer’s frequency, duration and expenditure. Third place variables of ‘Unique Tenant’ and ‘Appeal’ were found to have the greatest influence on a mall’s success as it had a strong association with the frequency and duration shoppers visited a particular mall. However, it was unable to effectively increase consumer spending. The non-third place variable of ‘Sale / Discount’ was noted to have the greatest influence on a mall’s retail performance as it not only increased frequency and duration of shopper’s patronage but also their expenditure. Though ‘Sales / Discounts’ was found to be exceptionally important in influencing retail performance, shopping malls cannot rely on this alone, as mall management often do not have control over pricing and discount policies undertaken by its tenants.

Therefore, to create a successful mall, management should enhance the third place attributes of their shopping centres to effectively differentiate it from its retail competitors. Additionally, in tandem organise regular ‘Sales / Discounts’ events to ensure regular patronage and expenditure by shoppers.