Now that the Boney M Christmas CDs and glittery decorations have been stashed away in shopping centre storerooms, mall managers have taken stock of holiday spending and found that consumers dug deep into their wallets despite a tough economy.
Hemingways Mall marketing manager Estee Roos said East London’s largest shopping centre had experienced “a truly exceptional” holiday retail season.
Roos said both foot traffic and spend had increased thanks to extended shopping hours, while the extra time to shop and eat out also drew the city’s tourists to the mall.
“Accordingly, the mall’s leisure offerings of 15 restaurants, gaming and movie enjoyed good trade.”
In Mthatha’s BT Ngebs City Shopping Centre, foot traffic remained “fairly constant despite a tough and competitive trading environment”, while the car count showed growth, according to general manager Lolo Sabisa.
He said new shops like a seafood chain and IT store had added value to the mall.
“We have seen a huge influx of customers who would normally travel to East London to take advantage of the services offered by these tenants.”
At Vincent Park Shopping Centre general manager Joseph Parsley said foot traffic was down by 1.5% on the 2016 season.
He put this slight downturn down to a few factors, the most significant being the growth of the Black Friday sale in November.
He said the country’s poor economic growth, the December fuel price hike and political uncertainty had also played a part.
“It’s a bit disappointing, although the final figures are not in yet,” said Parsley.
He said the festive season spending was also negatively affected by a decline in bonuses and 13th cheques.
“People are still cautious with their spend. People were still reeling from their Black Friday spend because many went ballistic and so this carried over into December. The little they have must sustain them into the new year and pay for back-to-school expenses.”
Gillwell Shopping Centre manager Vimbainashe Mazambani said the mall had traded “exceptionally high”, especially in food and clothing, and that both foot traffic and average spend were higher than last year.
Family-friendly mall promotions and Christmas bargains offered by some stores also drew the crowds. “The average basket was higher than expected for most of the stores.”
Beacon Bay Retail Park centre manager Urshula Pape also reported an upturn in sales in a thorny economic climate.
“Despite difficult economic condition, coupled with shoppers’ big spend over Black Friday, Beacon Bay Retail Park vehicle traffic increased by 8% and the overall performance of the retailers improved by 3% year-on-year.”
Pape said health and beauty and home décor stores performed extremely well.
“ a clear indication that the shoppers had disposable income with which to spoil themselves and loved ones over the festive season.” — barbarah@dispatch.co.za
Christmas spending still festive: Consumers dug deep into pockets despite tough economy
Hemingways Mall marketing manager Estee Roos said East London’s largest shopping centre had experienced “a truly exceptional” holiday retail season.
Roos said both foot traffic and spend had increased thanks to extended shopping hours, while the extra time to shop and eat out also drew the city’s tourists to the mall.
“Accordingly, the mall’s leisure offerings of 15 restaurants, gaming and movie enjoyed good trade.”
In Mthatha’s BT Ngebs City Shopping Centre, foot traffic remained “fairly constant despite a tough and competitive trading environment”, while the car count showed growth, according to general manager Lolo Sabisa.
He said new shops like a seafood chain and IT store had added value to the mall.
“We have seen a huge influx of customers who would normally travel to East London to take advantage of the services offered by these tenants.”
At Vincent Park Shopping Centre general manager Joseph Parsley said foot traffic was down by 1.5% on the 2016 season.
He put this slight downturn down to a few factors, the most significant being the growth of the Black Friday sale in November.
He said the country’s poor economic growth, the December fuel price hike and political uncertainty had also played a part.
“It’s a bit disappointing, although the final figures are not in yet,” said Parsley.
He said the festive season spending was also negatively affected by a decline in bonuses and 13th cheques.
“People are still cautious with their spend. People were still reeling from their Black Friday spend because many went ballistic and so this carried over into December. The little they have must sustain them into the new year and pay for back-to-school expenses.”
Gillwell Shopping Centre manager Vimbainashe Mazambani said the mall had traded “exceptionally high”, especially in food and clothing, and that both foot traffic and average spend were higher than last year.
Family-friendly mall promotions and Christmas bargains offered by some stores also drew the crowds. “The average basket was higher than expected for most of the stores.”
Beacon Bay Retail Park centre manager Urshula Pape also reported an upturn in sales in a thorny economic climate.
“Despite difficult economic condition, coupled with shoppers’ big spend over Black Friday, Beacon Bay Retail Park vehicle traffic increased by 8% and the overall performance of the retailers improved by 3% year-on-year.”
Pape said health and beauty and home décor stores performed extremely well.
“ a clear indication that the shoppers had disposable income with which to spoil themselves and loved ones over the festive season.” — barbarah@dispatch.co.za
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