Making The Most Of Your Underutilised Retail Space
In the age of online shopping, more and more stores are closing their doors and moving their business online. To keep up with modern shopping trends, shopping centres need to reinvent themselves in order to stay relevant and keep ahead of the competition, but with the decline of brick-and-mortar retail stores, it can be difficult to come up with new ways of using this empty space.
Fortunately, we’ve come up with a few ways of reimagining your shopping centre’s empty spaces into profitable ventures. From focusing on the customer experience, to promoting limited-time, non-traditional clients, we can help you find new methods of generating revenue and increasing footfall.
Community & Experiential Repurposing
As a result of the rise of social media, modern shoppers tend to focus on experience-driven spending rather than material goods, which is why the ‘experience’ of shopping has become such a huge part of how shopping centres market and develop themselves. Converting empty retail spaces into locations designed for more social and communal uses can be a great way to increase foot traffic – bars, cafes, restaurants, cinemas, gyms and activity centres are all fantastic additions to broaden any shopping experience.
Leisure Uses
Speaking of activity centres, the opportunities provided by leisure operators can transform the way your customers interact with your shopping centre. Mini golf, climbing walls, indoor ziplines and trampoline parks are rapidly becoming popular with parents and children alike, so why not turn a shopping trip into a family day out?
Another promising use for empty retail spaces is to convert them into gaming centres. The rise in popularity of esports and online gaming means that more people are looking for places to practise as a team or to play a few rounds socially with friends. Providing dedicated spaces for customers to play together can make your shopping centre the go-to location for gamers and game enthusiasts.
Special Events
We’ve talked before about how vital themed and branded events can be to increasing footfall in your shopping centre, so if you’re going to be hosting regular events for your guests, plan ahead by dedicating a space to putting on your shows! Building set decorations or assembling a small stage in high-traffic areas lets shoppers know something exciting is happening soon. Plus, the increased exposure means you can draw in more viewers, further increasing revenue and boosting attendance numbers.
Pop-Up Shops
In some instances, you might already have some ideas about how you want to repurpose retail spaces in the future, but you might not be ready to implement those changes right now. Rather than leaving the space empty, you could choose to temporarily fill it with a pop-up shop.
These limited-time, often non-traditional stores are brilliant at generating a buzz amongst your customers, providing somewhere new and exciting to explore for a limited time. Pop-up shops are beneficial for both shopping centres and brands looking to establish a foothold in the wider retail market, since it gives growing businesses the opportunity to test new products and show off their services without paying for an expensive long-term lease.
Retail Merchandising Units
Now that we’ve talked about individual retail spaces, it’s time to move on to repurposing possibilities in your wider shopping centre. The hallways and walkable areas of your shopping centre should be able to accommodate fluctuating amounts of guests, but too much empty space can leave your interior feeling bare and barren.
In these cases, you can establish kiosks and retail merchandising units (RMUs) to add colour and intrigue to your hallways, attracting the attention of your shoppers as they navigate from one store to the next. Kiosks and RMUs are far more flexible than traditional retail stores – perfect for nurturing a more intimate shopping experience and creating a more welcoming and vibrant atmosphere as your customers continue exploring.
Reimagine Your Retail Space With Us!
The key to reimagining your retail space is to think big. Most shopping centres already have the infrastructure and tools available to begin implementing changes – it’s just the know-how they’re missing. At Shoppertainment, we’re experts in shopping centre commercialisation, providing our clients with expert marketing and commercialisation strategies at over 100 sites across the UK.
If you want to know more about our outstanding shopping centre commercialisation services, please get in contact with one of our experts today.