Sandton City Shopping Centre in Johannesburg was in May voted the Coolest Shopping Mall in The Sunday Times Generation Next Brand Survey Awards for the second year in a row.
Sandton City Shopping Centre in Johannesburg was in May voted the Coolest Shopping Mall in The Sunday Times Generation Next Brand Survey Awards for the second year in a row.
The study provides insights on how the local youth market (aged 18 to 22) perceives brands and highlights the top brands the youth think are cool.
It is acknowledged as the leading youth brand survey in the country.
Owned by Liberty Properties and Pareto Limited, it is managed by Liberty Properties and appeals to families, fashionistas and younger shoppers, explains Sharon Swain, property portfolio manager for Sandton City and Nelson Mandela Square.
According to management, the centre has an annual average of more than 2 million customers per month.
“Our shopper base is also not limited to people living in Sandton or Johannesburg’s northern suburbs, but includes the whole of Gauteng.”
Shoppers find it easy to use the Gautrain from Pretoria and the East Rand to come to Sandton City to enjoy a day’s shopping, some specifically to Sandton City to shop as there are a number of stores here that are not found anywhere else in Gauteng, she says.
Social media
The South African Council of Shopping Centres (SACSC) commissioned Quirk Education to research social media trends in retail.
According to the report entitled Social Media Marketing in South African Shopping Centres, 84 percent of South Africans own a cell phone, as such, they connect on the move.
Of these Internet-savvy South Africans, three-quarters are signed up to at least one social media network – such as Facebook, Twitter, Mxit and LinkedIn – making these networks significantly more popular than email, which comes in at 66 percent.
Sandton City leads with the highest number of Twitter followers (12 000), followed by V&A Waterfront in Cape Town (10 425), Melrose Arch (4 490), Gateway Theatre of Shopping in Umhlanga (4 001) and Montecasino in Fourways (3 708).
Globally and in South Africa, shopping centres have embraced the use of social media, focusing on popular tools such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
Amanda Stops, chief executive officer of the SACSC, says the research reveals that the average shopper visits malls 38 times a year and spends 80 minutes on average per trip.
“Increasingly, when we go shopping we take our online lives with us too. Along with airports, shopping centres are the most checked-in venues for South African Facebook users.”
Of particular interest to the SACSC, is that shopping centres are harnessing this trend – or not harnessing it, as the case may be.
Of the 100 malls surveyed, 65 percent had an active Facebook presence and 45 percent were on Twitter, while 43 percent use email newsletters to talk to their customers, explains Stops.
The king of Facebook is Canal Walk, with 72 134 “likes” at the time of writing, followed by Monte Casino (49 195), Melrose Arch (33 778), Galleria Mall in Amanzimtoti (32 097) and V&A Waterfront in Cape Town (25 372).
Sandton City leads with the highest number of Twitter followers (12 000), followed by V&A Waterfront in Cape Town (10 425), Melrose Arch (4 490), Gateway Theatre of Shopping in Umhlanga (4 001) and Montecasino in Fourways (3 708).
According to Swain, social media plays a large role in Sandton City’s communications and is incorporated into all communications strategies.
“We use Facebook and Twitter to interact with our customers.
“Electronic and digital media is also important and Sandton City’s website is a key element of communication, as are electronic newsletters that are sent to customers and tenants on a regular basis,” she explains.
When it comes to YouTube, just three shopping centres had their own YouTube channels to showcase branded videos and these included Sandton City and Montecasino and Menlyn Maine in Menlo Park.
Sandton City was also the only shopping centre to have a presence on image sharing network Flickr.
It also had six videos, ranging in age between one and two years, according to the report.
According to the report, Sandton City uses Twitter as a communications and customer service channel, responding to customer questions and complaints, and engaging with fans.
Sandton City is well aware of the spending power the youth have and the influence they have over their parents when it comes to purchasing decisions, and our leasing strategy ensures Gauteng’s young shoppers are well catered for, says Swain.
Replies to engagement posts are generally very low, and followers tweet at the centre when they have a question or complaint.
The report indicates that looking forward, there will be a sustained and growing trend of shopping centres adopting social media in their own right and partnering closely with their tenant retailers in this space, often with an eCommerce element involved.
Cool retail stores
Sandton City has a number of stores and entertainment offerings that appeal to Gauteng’s young shoppers, and numerous brands within the centre were acknowledged as the coolest in their categories, notes Swain.
These include, FNB (bank), Nike (clothing brand), Mr Price (clothing store), Mugg & Bean (coffee shop), Apple Mac (computer brand), McDonald’s (fast food place), Guess (fragrance), Woolworths Food (grocery store), iPhone (hi-tech gadget), Musica (music retailer), Nike (shoe/footwear brand), Sandton City (shopping mall), Clicks (specialist health and beauty store) and Vodacom (telecoms provider).
She says BlackBerry was voted the Coolest Brand overall and Sandton City boasts a BlackBerry stand in the centre.
Of course, the fact that so many Sandton City tenants were category winners is no coincidence, says Swain pointing out that Sandton City is well aware of the spending power the youth have and the influence they have over their parents when it comes to purchasing decisions, and our leasing strategy ensures Gauteng’s young shoppers are well catered for.
Shopping at the mall
Swain says Sandton City has more than 300 stores and the variety of retail tenants has enabled the centre to position itself as a leader in fashion, offering a wide range of local and international brands.
“Because the majority of tenants at the mall are fashion tenants, it follows that the majority of purchases are clothing, followed by food and tech gadgets.”
According to an Eighty 20 report, 64 percent of South African adults who have a retail store card are women, 11.3 million South African adults (32 percent) find the statement ‘shopping makes me feel that my life is worthwhile’ very applicable and the most popular store for females aged between 15 and 24 is Mr Price (26 percent have bought clothing from this store in the past three months) followed by Jet (22 percent).
For males between the ages of 15 and 24 it is Mr Price (11 percent) followed by Edgars (10 percent), according to the report.
Commenting on the report, Swain points out that Sandton City’s research shows a female skew and Mr Price is certainly one of the centre’s top performing retailers.
“Sandton City is proud to be able to offer customers a broad range, from high-end luxury to good value, locally produced brands,” says Swain. - Denise Mhlanga
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