Co-operation the key to combatting retail threats

News

30 October 1993

Roger Aldridge, conference chairman and a director of Marks & Spencer, told the 430 delegates: “We must respond by providing good all-round facilities as well as customer service and convenience.” Both Aldridge and RICS president Clive Lewis urged the delegates – who included developers, retailers, agents and architects – to address the implications of continued low retail spending.

“There can be no doubt that discounting will be the theme in retailing in the 1990s,” said Lewis in his keynote speech. “Retailers will need keen buying, high volumes and low costs in order to compete and, if this requires larger units and turnover-linked rents, then this is what shopping-centre owners must provide.”

Lewis added that the recession has helped to bring the brighter, smaller chains into centres, but that letting policies “have only been changed grudgingly”.

Aldridge said that the same advances in information technology which have recently led to the 24-hour shopping-by-television channel QVC in the UK should be applied to conventional retailing – not just in stock control but in front-of-house customer service too.

Though many delegates were openly dismissive of QVC (Quality, Value and Convenience), Aldridge said: “What we’ve seen of QVC may only be the start of something and not the end.”

After the debate, Aldridge told Estates Gazette: “We have to take every form of retailing seriously. What added value do they bring to the shopping experience, and how do we compete to offer a better service in the High Streets and malls?”

Aldridge was the only speaker to assess the future of shopping centres in the context of Government policy. The retail industry, he said, would have to overcome “tensions” created by the new planning guidance notes 6, 12, and 13, in which the Government wants to curb out-of-town retail development – as well as car usage.

Investors and retailers in Britain’s shopping centres will have to co-operate more closely in the 1990s than they did in the 1980s if they are to overcome the widescale threat from new forms of retailing. Doug Morrison reports.The looming competition – from warehouse clubs and factory outlets, among others – was the spark for much of the debate at the British Council of Shopping Centres’ Annual Conference in Dublin last weekend. Roger Aldridge, conference chairman and a director of Marks & Spencer, told the 430 delegates: “We must respond by providing good all-round facilities as well as customer service and convenience.” Both Aldridge and RICS president Clive Lewis urged the delegates – who included developers, retailers, agents and architects – to address the implications of continued low retail spending. “There can be no doubt that discounting will be the theme in retailing in the 1990s,” said Lewis in his keynote speech. “Retailers will need keen buying, high volumes and low costs in order to compete and, if this requires larger units and turnover-linked rents, then this is what shopping-centre owners must provide.” Lewis added that the recession has helped to bring the brighter, smaller chains into centres, but that letting policies “have only been changed grudgingly”. Aldridge said that the same advances in information technology which have recently led to the 24-hour shopping-by-television channel QVC in the UK should be applied to conventional retailing – not just in stock control but in front-of-house customer service too. Though many delegates were openly dismissive of QVC (Quality, Value and Convenience), Aldridge said: “What we’ve seen of QVC may only be the start of something and not the end.” After the debate, Aldridge told Estates Gazette: “We have to take every form of retailing seriously. What added value do they bring to the shopping experience, and how do we compete to offer a better service in the High Streets and malls?” Aldridge was the only speaker to assess the future of shopping centres in the context of Government policy. The retail industry, he said, would have to overcome “tensions” created by the new planning guidance notes 6, 12, and 13, in which the Government wants to curb out-of-town retail development – as well as car usage.