ICSC Chairman: Electricity Providers Can Not Replace Physical Retail

According to the world clothing and shoe net, last week, International Council of Shopping Centers (International) Shopping Mall The association, referred to as ICSC, hosted the New York National Deal Making trade fair at the Jacob K. Javits Conference Center in New York. Executives of major retail real estate industries are looking for suitable trading partners to explore new retail concepts. market Developing strategies to better adapt to fast changing consumer shopping habits.

ICSC will usher in the 60th anniversary anniversary in 2017. As a global trade association in the shopping center industry, ICSC has been committed to building industry communities, promoting economic development and building a "dynamic" urban space. ICSC believes that the current market environment is full of challenges, but there are also a lot of opportunities. A few days ago, ICSC chairman Tom McGee interviewed reporters and expounded his views on the retail real estate market, online sales and other issues.

　 Reporter: the current retail environment is constantly changing. How can the shopping center ensure that it adapts itself to the new trend?

Tom McGee (hereinafter referred to as T): for the retail real estate industry, there are several essential factors: building communities, promoting economic development and innovation. Shopping centres have always been a social gathering place, helping to stimulate the vitality of urban space and providing a common public area for work, family and market.

At present, the industry is changing with the needs of consumers. Consumers now pay great attention to the value of experience, so shopping centers are no longer as simple as shopping places, but become more diversified. They are more like "movie theaters with restaurants" or "grocery stores that provide food and drink".

In addition, shopping centers also include more entertainment factors, such as mini car racing, indoor rope climbing and laser show.

As time goes on, developers and retailers will continue to provide consumers with more personalized, more interactive shopping experience, and help consumers' shopping experience more convenient and smooth through new ways.

　 Reporter: what kind of role does the development of technology play in the change of shopping centers?

T: technology has become an indispensable part of people's life, and so is shopping experience. Now consumers can quickly access to a large amount of information, and can do a lot of search and investigation before buying, so they have decided what to buy before they arrive at the store. Our research shows that the consumption of multi-channel consumers is 3.5 times that of other types of consumers.

For example, "Click and collect" (online purchase, offline pick up) is a way of combining numbers with physical sales channels. In the future, businesses will use more similar multi-channel sales strategies to meet the new needs of consumers.

　 Reporter: many people believe that online sales will gradually replace traditional stores. Do you agree with this view?

T: I don't think so at all. Online retail is indeed growing, but growth in recent years has begun to slow down. This shows that traditional physical stores still play an important role in the retail industry. For example, the occupancy rate of shopping centres is still high, reaching 93.4%, and sales are continuing to grow. Although many people believe that online sales are becoming the mainstream of the market, online retailers account for only 3.5% of the total retail sales in the US. In fact, the store will continue to dominate the retail market in the future, and new technology will only complement it.

Reporter: some online retailers are expanding to physical distribution channels. Can shopping centres take advantage of this trend as a new source of goods?

T: Yes, this is another example of online and offline channel integration. Online retailers, including Warby Parker, Bonobos and Blue Nile, have begun to enter the physical distribution channel. Although their stores are quite different from traditional stores, if they respond well, they will further expand their physical distribution network in the future.

There is a very good synergy between physical channels and digital channels. Studies show that there is a strong link between the two, which is called "halo effect (halo effect)". When the sales of physical stores in a region increase rapidly, the online channel sales in the region will also rise. If physical stores are forced to close, digital sales will also be hit.

This trend of integration is an opportunity for retailers. Wal-Mart Jet.com has recently been acquired, and Amazon has started its own store. This shows that more and more businesses are aware of the importance of integrating online and offline sales channels to provide consumers with a more fluid shopping experience.

　 Reporter: Recently, many retailers have begun closing their stores. What do you think of the future of retail industry?

T: as a whole, the retail real estate industry is very healthy. At present, there are 11.5 shopping centers and 12 million 700 thousand jobs in the United States, which means that one out of every 11 Americans is a related practitioner. In addition, the occupancy rate of shopping centers is also very good. At present, the retail space market is in short supply.

Shopping centers have a strong driving force for the economy, not only in the United States, but also around the world. In the first quarter of 2016, 184 million people had visited at least one shopping center, accounting for 75% of American adults. The average number of trips to shopping centres is 4.2 times, while 48% of consumers buy daily goods.

　 Reporter: next year, the United States will usher in a new president, and the Republican Party will occupy the majority of seats in the Congress. What areas do you hope to focus on next year?

T: we are currently considering some legislative issues, including "E-Fairness" and tax reform.

ICSC will continue to urge federal legislators to introduce more electricity supplier related regulations to better regulate the retail market in the new era. According to the current tax system, retailers must pay taxes for every item they sell, but online retailers do not have such a restriction. This has led to the disadvantage of ordinary retailers in price competition. This has done great harm to the retail industry in the United States, and also caused the government to lose 23 billion dollars in sales tax.

In addition to the tax system, ICSC also supports the government's introduction of new policies that can promote the economy, such as stimulating investment. A reasonable tax policy can encourage people to make more investment and R & D in the retail industry, so that our community can continue to grow.

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