Retailer Developer partnership - The way forward

The fourth edition of The India Shopping Centre Forum (ISCF), the mega congregation of Shopping Centre Developers & Retailers, opened with an in-depth deliberation amongst industry leaders on the key challenges faced by the sector and the way forward for retail industry especially shopping centres. The ISCF an annual feature held with a vision of bringing together leading retailers, shopping centre developers, consultants, financial institutions and support professionals and companies saw deliberations on the theme of “Shopping Centres Challenge: Need to cover more ground to lay the right foundation for the future of retail in India.”
 
The inaugural session saw industry luminaries like BS Nagesh, Vice Chairman – Shoppers Stop speak on the changing retailer-developer relationship while Raj Singh Gehlot, Chairman – Ambience Group of Companies, highlighted the key elements in building successful malls in the future. Thomas Varghese, CEO, Aditya Birla Retail, & Chairman CII's National Committee on retail, and S Raghunandhan, Chairman SCAI & CEO, Prestige Retail Group touched upon the changing retailer-developer relationship and how both can create a win-win situation through a mutually beneficial partnership. The panel agreed that shopping centers are an integral part of economic growth. They symbolize the civilization and lifestyle development of the economy.
 
Raj Singh Gehlot highlighted the key elements for building successful malls in the future. He said that a shopping center needs to create an experience for its customers. It should have a clear positioning depending upon the attitude and lifestyle of the catchment area. He added, “This sector has high growth trajectory as the consumer behaviour and preferences are changing. Today we have entered the new era of 'Experiential Economy'. A mall visit should provide a customer a memorable and 'emotion evoking' experience. Mall developers should readily adapt to the changes as per the consumer requirements and emerging social and psychological trends.”

BS Nagesh spoke about the changing scenario in the retail sector. The industry has gone through multiple stages starting from bullish optimism six years ago to a pessimistic bent and then back to positive optimism last year. Today it is at the stage of Truism. This is possible because of the “Revenue sharing model” adopted by the mall developers. This model has brought trust factor in the  partnership between the retailers and the mall developers.
Insisting on developing a partnership not limited to the retailers and mall developers Nagesh emphasised on the need to involve the entire eco-system including the customers, the mall employees and the society as a whole.
Varghese highlighting the positive development in the retail sector stated that the Indian organized retail market will grow from US$170 billion to US$260 billion by 2020 which will generate around 13 million jobs. He highlighted the importance of organized retail in driving economic growth as the industry has the ability to serve producers (farmers and manufacturers), employees, consumers and the government.
Later on in a session titled ‘Shopping Centres as catalysts in urbanization of India’ anchored by Anuj Puri, Chairman & Country Head, Jones LangLa Salle,  Manish Kalani, MD, Entertainment World Developers (EWDPL), stressed on the fact that shopping centres are an integral part of modern living, as much as schools, offices, hospitals and banks. However they do not figure on the agenda of the government and town planners as important part of India’s infrastructure development plans. The Municipal Corporations don't have a bylaw for shopping centres. Pallavi More, President, Growel Group opined that to build a community, shopping centres are important and the authorities should consider the same while preparing the master plan. They should earmark facilities for shopping centres. It was agreed upon to pursue the matter with the regulatory authorities.