Ukrainian Real Estate Club invited players of the retail real estate market to think about new meanings and transformations that have now become obvious in the shopping malls. Denys Kornuta, Director of the Arricano Retail Space Department, spoke together with other experts in the panel discussion. He shared corporate cases and observations on this issue. It is symbolic that the discussion took place in the new Respublika Park. The presentations were moderated by Kateryna Vesna, Head of the Department of Agency and Consulting Services in the field of retail real estate at Cushman & Wakefield.

The social significance of a shopping mall goes beyond shopping. Today, the professional shopping mall is a center of social life and social activity, where diverse thematic events take place. Thus, the shopping mall becomes an important part of a person's life, thanks to which you can get a positive charge of emotions, spend useful time, and get a new consumer experience. After all, the shopping mall is a harmonious ecosystem that ensures the relationship and interaction "buyer - social space of the shopping mall  - brand". By the way, another special modern feature of the shopping mall is offline reality: as a place for entertainment and recreation, it can confidently compete with a gadget and a home sofa.

The offline shopping mall is open 12 hours a day, i.e. from 10:00 to 22:00, and welcomes visitors, offering a comfortable atmosphere for work, leisure, entertainment, and socialization. Given this need, the shopping mall becomes a multifunctional object, where office hubs, educational and community points appear, which complement the shopping gallery of brands and the entertainment component of the cinema and food court.

As a result, shopping malls are flexible social facilities where humanocentrism is the main driver of growth and transformation. 

In the Arricano's shopping malls, we transform the perception of the shopping mall at the request of the audience. Our guests know that shopping malls regularly host interesting themed BTL events. And this is an additional motive for visiting and building loyalty. However, among social trends, donations, sharing, assistance to vulnerable segments of the population, and charitable manifestations are common. Therefore, in 2021, we introduced another initiative — crowdfunding and Community Point. The shopping mall initiated, organized and provided clothing collection under the consumer message — "free the wardrobe to give clothes to those who need them." We were surprised by the passion, willingness and desire of our guests to help other people. We held such a crowdfunding campaign in Zaporizhzhia and Kyiv, collaborated with public organizations and jointly managed to help hundreds of low-income families.

Flexible shopping mall responds to the request of the audience, which is constantly transforming, changing its habits and lifestyle. Modern teenagers behave differently in the shopping mall than their parents. We recently conducted a study on brand preferences among parents and children. Of course, their shopping styles differ significantly, but we have identified a new emotional niche of the shopping mall - a place where parents and children communicate and learn more about each other, including their own style and habits. You must admit that in a family, when children "live" more in a gadget, it is difficult for parents to attract their attention. Therefore, a joint visit with a teenage child to the shopping mall to have lunch and go shopping will be a good way to find a common language.

Another aspect of the shopping mall that we support in Arricano is a place of cultural leisure. In the summer, we held an original exhibition Fashion&Profession, showing the audience how a person's profession affects the formation of a fashionable style. Conversely, how personal style can change a profession. By the way, tenant brands always participate in Arricano's marketing programs.

Summarizing the objective request in the formation of a new role of the shopping mall, we strive to unite the audience around the shopping mall, interact with segmented communities, respond to their needs, offer an appropriate tenant-mix to become an important component in their life and top-of-mind in the purchase decision.

Source: https://propertytimes.com.ua