MAKE SPACE

Malls are ubiquitous in the Philippines, even as more people shop online. For better or for worse, malling is part of our culture. MEGA talks to the key people who ensure it stays that way

- RIA DE BORJA

Chances are, you live near a mall. If you’re holding a physical copy of the MEGA November 2024 issue, you probably bought it in a store at the mall. You might have grabbed coffee in the mall lately or gone clothes shopping. We have been conditioned to rely on malls for our everyday needs and go to malls to enjoy ourselves.

According to BusinessWorld online about a 2021 PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) International Limited survey, Filipinos prefer shopping physically in stores to shopping online. Additionally, “the ability to quickly and conveniently navigate the store to find products,” “to see and touch the products,” and “enjoyment of the social aspects of going to a store” were all reasons that malls are popular in the Philippines.

At a time when the push is for online shopping, brick-and-mortar malls are still growing. Statista forecasts that by 2026, store-based retail sales in the Philippines will reach $57 billion–a strong recovery after the pandemic. The Mall | NUSTAR in Cebu, which is less than two years old, is the first luxury mall in Visayas and Mindanao. “Retail growth is gaining traction and trending back to pre-pandemic levels [in general]. Omni-channel shopping will continue evolving; thus, malls must adapt to varying channel touch-points and digital curation,” explains May Adolfo, The Mall | NUSTAR’s General Manager.