The comfort and ease of online shopping is a growing attraction for consumers, so much so that malls are being forced to entertain shoppers just to keep them coming back.
The strategy several malls are using is to feature entertainment and digital attractions, as is the case with Cadillac Fairview Corp., one of the country’s biggest mall landlords. The mall developer will double its marketing budget next year as it looks into ways to entice shoppers to return, according to John Sullivan, chief executive officer of the company.
“We will put a fairly significant investment into an entertainment component in many of our malls,” he said at a panel session at the International Council of Shopping Centres conference.
E-commerce accounted for 4.5 per cent of total retail sales in Canada last year, although that number is expected to grow to 8.2 per cent by 2018, according to eMarketer.
