Malls have become an integral structure in every country. It has gone a long track from being just shopping centers, to becoming a place of leisure and has evolved into a destination where business meetings and operations are held. Malls are also made significant for huge spectacular events like concerts, competitions and huge corporate gatherings. Despite the advent of online retailing or e-commerce, Filipinos are still in adoration with the concept of shopping malls.
From a regular shopping center it has become a lifestyle destination where live, work, and play can be done in a singular place; not just your regular grocery stores, apparel shops, and eateries but bowling alleys, gym, medical offices, and even churches have gotten into shopping malls. Moving forward, shopping malls will continue to adapt and become more innovative to cater to the growing Filipino market. SM Prime Holdings Inc., the largest mall operator in the country recorded a 15% profit increase with a net income of P7.6 billion in the first quarter of 2018 from its P6.6 billion of 2017. The shopping mall business generated 59% revenue of P13.9 billion. This is all amidst the fast growth of online retailing signifying that the idea of shopping malls is indeed evolving.
Outside of Metro Manila, years of urban development in the south have continued and is showing great promise for shopping malls to continue rising and serving the country. With SM Prime Holdings Inc. leading the way with a development plan of having 10 malls put up in Visayas and Mindanao in the coming years with SM City Butuan and SM Mindoro opening by the end of 2019. On the helm as well with SM Prime Holdings Inc. are Ayala Corporation and MegaWorld Corporation with their upcoming projects of townships and shopping malls with the recently opened Ayala Capitol Central Bacolod and reopening of the Metro Ayala Cebu and the Ayala Malls Central Bloc opening in December 6.
The newly built Festive Mall in Iloilo along with upcoming MegaWorld Upper East Mall Bacolod, Northhill Town Center Bacolod, and Mactan Newtown Beach Walk Mall are just a few of the malls Megaworld plans to open in Davao, Cebu, Bacolod, and Boracay until 2022. Vistamall Bacolod and Vistamall CDO will also rise in 2020 as part of Vistaland’s aim of expansion. It is only a matter of time that more cities in Visayas and Mindanao will become highly urbanized and bustling with construction sites and its population filling the streets on their way to work, a sight only prevalent in Metro Manila.
As national developers continue to raise projects and developments in the southern regions of the country so will the growth of job opportunities. Malls have been destinations of advertising platforms for so long that until now it still provides the best audience for sharing your brand’s story.
Surely shopping malls never go out of style in the near future and even grow more interesting in the coming years. Billboards, banners, and LED billboards will continue to fill these shopping malls making these destinations highly effective advertising campaign locations will continue to adapt to its customers and clients especially with the Filipino crowd that still loves to go to malls, malls that have become a part of our culture.