Mall Visitors Are Projected To Be Quiet Until The End Of 2020

Illustration. (Photo: Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Shopping centers or malls are projected to continue to experience a decline in retail occupancy throughout 2020. Colliers International Indonesia projects that retail occupancy in Jabodetabek until the end of 2020 will continue to decline.

Colliers Senior Associate Director Ferry Salanto said that occupancy would decline to 73 percent on an annual basis or year on year (yoy). According to him, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many shops have closed.

"We have seen from last quarter that there has indeed been a decrease in occupancy rates and we also anticipate that by the end of the year, some of the shops will start to close, while others while waiting for him to normally carry out renovations," he said in a webinar event. , Wednesday, July 8.

Apart from the COVID-19 pandemic, Ferry said, another reason for retail stores to experience a decline is the increasing number of malls every year. This also affects.

"Plus there is a new mall that will enter in the second half of 2020 and it changes the occupancy projection to be more (quiet) and until the end of 2021 he is still looking for a form, still trying to be stable first," he said.

Not only is it quiet in terms of retail filling, Ferry said, the mall has also experienced a decline in the number of visitors. Although, he said, the transitional large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) had allowed malls to resume operations.

"There is an order that the mall can be opened again, indeed the number (of visitors) is not so high, so the traffic has not returned to normal, there are still some concerns, especially from visitors who are very concerned about health, they are still avoiding crowded places," he said. .

In addition, Ferry said, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed consumer behavior. People tend to choose to shop online or online. The online shopping trend, which continues to experience this increase, also affects the silence of mall visitors.

However, said Ferry, his party is sure that malls will not be left just like that, because there is a different shopping experience in malls compared to online shopping.

Still afraid

Previously, the Indonesian shopping center management association (APPBI) said that malls or shopping centers were still empty of visitors even though they had been open for a week. This is because consumers are worried about contracting COVID-19.

The small number of visitors who shop at the mall causes only 80 percent of retail outlets to return to operations. Most of the outlets that have been operating are owned by entrepreneurs with strong capital.

Chairperson of APPBI Stefanus Ridwan said, although it had increased, it was not significant. This is because mall visitors are also limited during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"If we look at yesterday's results from the beginning until now there is indeed an increase. Although the increase is slow, it seems that there is an increase. Initially only 20 percent came, this week we see it has reached 30-40 percent. So there is an increase," he said, on IDX Channel's Special Dialogue event, Thursday, June 25th.