Industry Voices  Anthony Yip: The future of shopping: Bigger, interactive, themed   As the Great Singapore Sale rolls into town, P@SSPORT interviews Anthony Yip, General Manager of Tincel Properties, (which manages Raffles City) who is also President of The Association of Shopping Centres, and asks him what are the trends emerging in tourism shopping around the world. Q: What are the new trends that are emerging in shopping malls and centres around the world? Is bigger better or will there be a reversal towards smaller, more boutique-type experiences? A: There are several clear trends: Extended trading hours; growing importance of the F&B (Food and Beverage) component in the retail mix; more engaging and interactive store front designs and retail formats; themed centres (example, APM mall in Hong Kong, Gardens in Mid Valley, Kuala Lumpur); and expansion (One Utama & Mid Valley in Kuala Lumpur) and rejuvenation (Landmark, Pacific Place in Hong Kong) of malls. There is a tendency for larger formats. Centres that go from 1 million to 2 million square feet – One Utama, KLCC, Siam Paragon, Vivo City, Dubai Mall & Mall of Emirates – are increasingly coming into play. By definition, they tend to be very comprehensive in product and service offerings incorporating themed entertainment, retail, F&B, lifestyle components in a conducive environment with multiple anchors or traffic generators. Sometimes they are grounded within integrated or mixed used developments with the retail component acting as the "glue" to connect these other uses (such as offices, apartments or hotels etc) seamlessly. They are also centred around transportation nodes with good accessibility to public and private transportation. On the other hand, savvy shoppers also enjoy street shopping as well as markets where they are often attracted by the range and authenticity of the merchandise. There are many destinations in the world that are renowned for these offerings - Nathan Road & Nuren Jie, Pedder Street (Hong Kong), Siam Square (Bangkok), Oxford St, Bond Street, Regent Street, Carnaby Street (London), 5th Avenue, Madison Ave (New York), Champs Elysee (Paris), Orchard Road (Singapore), Bintang Walk (KL), Ginza (Tokyo), The Rambla (Barcelona). Often times, these developments sprang up spontaneously and organically around a cluster and have evolved over time as part and parcel of the social fabric. We are also seeing the emergence of flagship stores such as Prada (Omotesando, Tokyo) and LV (Hong Kong), Top Shop (Oxford St, London) along shopping streets. It is important to have a good mix of different types of offerings (large malls, street shopping, small specialty boutiques) for a more complete and interesting shopping experience which caters to a diverse catchment of consumers. Q: What are people looking for when they travel? A: Apart from the hygiene factors (safety, cleanliness etc), they are looking for a memorable and unique experience – what the place is well known for, legends and travel stories, reliable and authentic products and events such as trade fairs in Hanover, Chelsea Flower Show in London, Jazz Festival in Montreux, Dubai Shopping Festival and the Mardi Gras in Sydney. Q: How can suppliers meet the demands of new travellers' needs? A: By a) Having a healthy supply of new brands and formats. b) Innovating, repackaging and staying abreast of the trends e.g. consider exposure to unique, local cultural experiences "interwoven" within malls. c) Suppliers collectively working towards raising the knowledge, skill sets and service standards in the industry. d) Actively engaging government agencies to be more pro-business – example, Thailand and Dubai. e) Relentlessly communicating to the consumers through travel writers and travel associations to highlight legends and travel stories and memorable experiences. f) Leveraging on opinion shapers (e.g. public personalities, newspapers, magazines).