No longer just a 'shopping' mall

Exhibitions and events attract more consumers and keep them spending longer, as retail centers seek new offerings to compete with e-commerce, changing preferences

With fierce competition in the traditional retail industry, shopping malls are trying to adjust their business models by holding exhibitions. Besides the income from admission tickets and selling derivative products, malls are also using exhibitions to attract more customers and improve overall sales.

Some exhibitions with unique styles and specific themes, such Hello Kitty and Harry Potter, have been quite popular among the younger generations in China.

Many consumers like to visit the exhibitions, take eye-catching photos and post them on social media. Going to an exhibition has also become a lifestyle and a popular form of entertainment.

The Raffles City shopping center in Beijing, owned by CapitaLand, one of Asia's largest real estate companies, is currently holding an artistic exhibition at its below-ground floor, and it is called "You are not alone".

The exhibition, which will be on display until mid-October, allows only two people to visit together, and the two must be tied together with a ribbon that is 45 cm long. The two could be couples, siblings, friends or even just acquaintances.

The exhibition hall has been made into a huge maze, and the two will explore and look at an intimate relationship together. They may enter different rooms with various designs and experience different sentiments.

"The exhibition is filled with rich artistic atmosphere, and it targets those consumers who are young, fashionable, like to take selfies and pursue high-quality lifestyles. This fits the target customers of Raffles City, a trendy mall that sits in the Dongzhimen area," according to a statement of CapitaLand.

The company said Raffles City has been constantly introducing different types of operations into the mall, including culture, social and experiential formats, and it aims to provide diversified consumption experiences for consumers.

"The show 'You are not alone' could help Raffles City to elevate its style and quality, and provide consumers new space to explore the artistic world. Besides, it could help to strengthen the stickiness of consumers and drive the sales performances of the stores," Capita-Land's statement said.

"We have held some themed exhibitions and delicacy parties in the past, and they have been quite popular among consumers. In the future, we plan to cooperate with more artists and exhibition resources, and together forge an artistic atmosphere at Raffles City."

Nevertheless, it's uncertain whether the customer flow will offset the costs of holding exhibitions. Those costs include manpower input, the expenditure of purchasing gifts and souvenirs, the material consumption of building the site and the exhibits on display, in addition to transportation costs.

If the theme of the exhibition doesn't match well with the style and orientation of the shopping center, then it will be hard to drive the consumption. In this case, it won't play a part in the long-term brand building of a shopping center.

Neil Wang, China regional president of consultancy Frost & Sullivan, says there are clear appeals for malls to attract more customers by holding exhibitions. It can help to extend the time that consumers spend at the mall and strengthen their stickiness, thus further stimulating sales performance.

"Shopping malls should upgrade their ways of innovation and strengthen the interactions with consumers through exhibitions, instead of merely letting the consumers watch the shows and take photos. Malls could also launch some original ideas and art exhibitions, rather than copy ideas," Wang says.

Meanwhile, he adds that the operators of shopping malls should spur the link of exhibitions and stores. For example, they may allow consumers to get some coupons for certain brands by buying the admission tickets to exhibitions, or allow consumers to get free admission to the exhibitions if they spend a certain amount of money at stores.

"In this case, malls can attract more premium flagship stores, especially those styles that are in line with the theme of exhibitions, to launch in the malls, which will help the malls to strengthen their brand images."

zhuwenqian@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily European Weekly 10/06/2017 page28)