The research focused on the analysis of consumer behaviors of community shopping mall customers to know the correlation between respondent performance variables and influencing factors. The definition of a shopping mall in Bangkok varies, but basically, it is a shopping center located in a residential area. However, there are small community centers in suburban areas that serve the needs of a particular residential community and grow into a larger-scale community center in the Central Business District that targets white-collar workers.
This document will provide guidance for investors and developers who intend to build a community shopping center anywhere in Bangkok. Therefore, the paper will examine the business concept of community shopping centers from the perspective of the real estate development industry in order to identify the key factors that contribute to the success of community shopping center development projects. Consequently, this paper aims to show that developers and investors will have clearer procedures in the process of developing community shopping centers by identifying the consumption behavior of local customers: (1) choose the right location; (2) develop an appropriate concept; and (3) select an appropriate tenant mix in the development of a new shopping center in the community.
Although there are still opportunities and demands for community shopping centers in Bangkok, but without a research of local consumers and a logical assessment for the compatibility of products and services to match the market requirements, new community centers in Bangkok will experience failure and unnecessary loss in investment.
Growth of community malls in Bangkok
The term community mall denotes the meaning of the word "community" which denotes the importance of the needs of the community. The features found in such a community mall would correlate with community demand. For a community mall to be successful, it must have an adequate summary of the offerings that the community needs or is looking for.
To explore community consumer behavior, local research is needed in creating the community center program format. It is generally believed that Community Mall is a place where people go to shop and eat.
Characteristics of Community malls
The intention of people in the community to visit their local community center may vary depending on the products and services offered. But whether there are other activities offered at the community that will attract people to come out is a question to be answered, and it will certainly not be the same at all community shopping centers (Bunwiroon and Tochaiwat, 2011). When community centers offer the convenience people want, why would they go to mega malls?
They do not form real communities, unlike in the US or Japan, where cities are divided into different neighborhoods and where each area is well planned, with a school, a fire station, a post office,” says Ariya Aruninta of the Department. of Landscape Architecture, Chulalongkorn University. The sense of community may not be what Bangkokians look for in malls (Amranand, 2012).
Key Strategy from The Market Leader
Community shopping centers in that area serve loose groups of shoppers, a more specific target group of consumers, but the communities are not real (Amranand, 2012). Community shopping centers make up about 11% of the total retail market, which is almost as large as the hypermarket share. The development of housing projects, new roads and shortcuts in residential areas also support the convenience of visiting nearby community shopping centers.
So the community is a viable choice for people and at the same time attractive for real estate developers. The question that often arises is about the essential factors that developers analyze before developing a community shopping center and what strategies can contribute most to attracting customers to such community centers. A single execution plan that works for all community centers does not exist because the location of each community shopping center is unique and of course requires locating and studying the residential population in the target area.
Basically, the concept, design and tenant mix of the community mall should match the class and lifestyle of the community it serves. To meet the convenience of consumers and exceed their expectations by offering multi-dimensional experience while matching the needs of the residents of that catchment area. The ABAC surveys showed that customers in local shopping centers have a positive attitude due to the layout design and location than mega centers.
This is a concept followed by all shopping malls in the community due to its energy efficiency and an atmosphere that is closer to nature. Community mall developers should therefore understand the characteristics of local consumers and use the information to guide community mall development. The overall community mall model focuses on a developer and investor approach.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
- Sampling
- Data Collection
- Questionnaire Design
- Example of questionnaire
- Data Analysis Method
- Introduction
- Demographic Data
- Gender
- Occupation
- Income
- Data Analysis
This group has the highest purchasing power and can choose to visit a mall in the community of their choice. The second set of questions was aimed at identifying the behavior of community shopping mall customers. Within the second set of questions is one important question that asks what types of businesses you frequent in the community mall.
The third part is the specific questions related to the factors influencing the choice to visit a shopping mall. This research paper used online questionnaire to collect consumer behaviors of community mall customers. The online survey asked questions about typical behaviors when visiting a mall in order to gain insight into respondents' performance.
The second performance variable is the time respondents spend in a neighborhood shopping center. The result shows that 58.5 percent or more than half of the respondents usually spend 1 to 2 hours in a local shopping center. It is assumed that this group of respondents has a reasonable amount of spending per visit, which clearly makes this group the target group of Community Mall.
Table 4.1 shows the 21 questions that the online questionnaire asked respondents to rate in terms of their own influencing factors for deciding to visit a community mall. One is shopping mall behavior in multiple variables; frequency of visits, money spent per visit, time spent per visit, age and income. So, the questionnaire asked about visiting the same mall in the community three times in one month.
The majority of community shopping center customers travel to a community center by car, amounting to 52 respondents. The second group is respondents who travel to the community mall by BTS, which accounts for only 12.3 percent or 8 respondents.
CONCLUSIONS
Conclusions
These qualities of community shopping centers are considered to be related factors in attracting target customers to visit a community center. The research found that most of the target customers of community malls are in the 19-36 age group. So, the target customers of community malls will look for independent lifestyle, unique in concept, convenient in usability and variety of choices.
Most malls today always have a supermarket or at least a major drug store. A good portion of the target customers in this survey (66.7 percent) have a regular community mall that they revisit multiple times in a month, so there is definitely a sense of attachment that the target customer has with their community mall of choice. Whether the attraction is a supermarket, popular restaurants or cafes, or even the atmosphere, the key features are what become the mall's signature in the community.
Actually, for community shopping centers in most of Bangkok, it is more important than those in residential areas because it needs to stand out among the broader group of target groups. Smaller community shopping centers in residential areas depend more on location than on the project concept itself, although it should still convey the defining features that deliver satisfying experiences for customers. It is easy to say that customers looking for a convenience store in a convenience store need a convenience store that is in a convenient location for them.
As a business, community shopping centers' income is primarily from rental fees, so developers are dependent on the success of their tenants. The tenant mix should be aligned in a direction that supports the key characteristics of such a community mall. Despite the result of the influencing factors that the supermarket came out on top, the variety of restaurants in a shopping center can also be an attraction, as respondents with higher frequency of visits care about the choice of restaurant.
Recommendations
Valet parking service was included as one of the factors mentioned in the questionnaire, but respondents did not see it as the most important factor. Offering the parking service can support parking convenience, but is certainly not part of the decision-making process. Parking capacity must be balanced with the expected number of incoming customers during peak hours.
When analyzing the physical characteristics of community malls, there are several factors to consider: finding the right location, creating a unique concept, including a supermarket, choosing magnet restaurants, sorting products and services for the right mix of tenants, establishing sufficient parking capacity, and so on. Another factor that it is not physical, it can also be very important, it is marketing and management. This factor may not be important to customers; in the result of the research, this area appears neutral in terms of the level of importance.
With increasing competition, marketing is a crucial tool to attract public attention and communicate with target groups. Well-trained customer service personnel should always be on site to assist customers who need assistance. Therefore, new community shopping center developers should attach importance to these basic factors to meet the standard when planning the development of a community shopping center.
Suggestion for further studies
Pridobljeno s https://www.researchgate.net/publication/215909051_A_Study_of_Consu mer_Behaviors_for_Retail_Selection_in_Community_Malls, 9. februar 2016. An Exploration of Key Activities in Community Mall Business (magistrsko delo, College of Management Mahidol University, Bangkok, Tajska).
APPENDICES
Appendix A: Questionnaire
