Homogenous shopping centers : factors that bring up the uniqueness and differentiate themselves from others

Abstract

Shopping centers can be found everywhere in Hong Kong. Most of the shopping centers have formed a high homogeneity in that the tenant mix is very similar. People can easily name a lot of stores and brands which can be commonly found in most of the shopping centers. We believe there is no strong preference or determination to visit one specific shopping center. Hong Kong is a competitive business world. From customers’ perspective, it is indifference for them to visit any of the shopping centers as long as they can get what they want. Location has become an important factor. Having said that, this is also a factor that couldn’t be changed from time to time as it is decided at the beginning. Therefore, the objective of this dissertation to study and examine the factors that could help a shopping center brings up its uniqueness and differentiates them from others. Through this study, we have found that most of the people agree the high similarity not only in terms of the tenant mix but also the interior design and marketing promotions. This is an important message to the management of all shopping centers. The overall impression of the customers towards most of the shopping centers is similar, which is a useful reflection to the management. It is time to differentiate them from others in different aspects in order to pave the way to future success. Last but not least, this dissertation extends the study to overseas shopping centers in Asia in order to provide more insights and value-added service sample as good modeling and referencing. These oversea shopping centers provide good argument to shopping centers in Hong Kong to think differently and out of the box. Conclusion and recommendation are made at the end of this dissertation. The understanding of customers’ point of view is helpful. Strategic tenant mix planning, upgraded customer service and new element addition can be a path to future success.