Pop-up store outside a mall (Credit: Cushman & Wakefield/stock images)
SINGAPORE (EDGEPROP) - Retail sales remain below pre-pandemic levels (Chart 1) as footfall in malls continues to be hit by ongoing capacity limits, border controls and work from home arrangements. From dine-in bans to the cap on group sizes, restrictions in the F&B sector have dealt an even greater blow to the retail industry as F&B establishments are integral in drawing traffic to any retail sites.
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As retail conditions remain challenging, vacancy rates in other city areas and Orchard retail have edged up to a record high in 2Q2021 (Chart 2). Driving the rise in vacancy rates was a spate of notable market exits. The latest being karaoke chain, Manekineko, and Australian fashion chain, TEMT, which had closed all their stores in Singapore. It is estimated that about 10% to 20% of customer-facing businesses have shut since Singapore went into a heightened alert in May this year due to a surge in community infections.
On the back of higher vacant retail spaces, turnkey retail spaces might be one of the win-win solutions for both retailers and landlords to forge ahead.
Turnkey retail is an approach where landlords provide move-in ready spaces, reducing the hassle for tenants to set up bricks-and-mortar stores. A turnkey retail space can be as simple as a clean white box or a fully built-out store with lighting, product displays, mapped-out customer journey, technology and even staff can be provided.
Key attributes of turnkey retail spaces:
The benefits for turnkey retail are two-fold:
Main advantages for retailers
A turnkey approach can be viable point-of-entry options for new-to-market, start-up and digital native retailers that lack the experience or capacity to open their brick-and-mortar store. Turnkey spaces allow retailers to test their concepts, develop their products and engage their customers easily and quickly. With high levels of uncertainty due to the pandemic, providing turnkey retail spaces would allow lower initial capital expenditure (for retailers), and provides a lower risk approach for retailers
Boosting footfall and demand for spaces
Landlords benefit as new or online-first brands are incentivised to take up physical spaces through turnkey retail options. These brands could be carrying complementary or emerging offerings that rejuvenate a retail site and flaunt a differentiated shopping experience. Given that landlords must compete in Singapore’s relatively small market, turnkey retail could lead to a “one-stop shop” approach that helps to reduce dependence on individual tenants to bring in footfall and drive demand. Moreover, the current movement of retail tenants could be opportune for landlords to attract new and digital-native brands. Since the third quarter last year, over 62 new-to-market brands or digital native brands have leased physical spaces here.
Bolstering occupancy and leasing income
Turnkey spaces allow the interim take-up of vacant spaces while waiting for longer lease tenants. A turnkey tenant can potentially be converted to long-term when the tenant-landlord relationship is forged. Coupled with its increased appeal due to lower upfront costs for tenants, turnkey retail may spur leasing activities and strengthen landlords’ ability to hold firm or even increase rents.
Suitability
Retailers that seek to craft a distinct identity for brand building are unlikely to pick turnkey spaces due to the more generic look and feel as compared to bespoke spaces with elaborate visual merchandising. Trades that are less suitable to go for turnkey retail tend to have more complex or niche requirements.
Investments by the landlord
All costs and effort essential to construct and maintain a sustainable turnkey space should be carefully considered. This space should allow each brand to support one another yet exude an in-store experience envisioned by the landlord. But landlords will not want to overspend on modifications to meet the needs of different tenants over time. It is imperative for landlords to conduct a cost-benefit analysis, accounting for various capital expenditure and restoration costs.
At the core of a successful turnkey space is a detailed market study on the retail site to define the turnkey offering as well as determine the mode of tenant collaboration. First and foremost, the size, location, shoppers’ profile and neighbouring tenants should be considered in order to establish the types of retailers or brands that will fit into the mix. Thereafter, landlords will brainstorm what might attract these types of tenants to ascertain the extent of fit-out and other leasing details.
The approach to turnkey spaces will vary according to the amount of effort and capital that landlords are willing to put in. At the lower end of the spectrum, a space could be painted clean and basic to help potential tenants envision how the space could be utilized, while landlords work with current tenants to retain items that could be reused by the next turnkey tenant.
At the next level, landlords can equip tenants with infrastructure and digital services for omnichannel retail. Order fulfilment spaces as well as click-and-collect services can be provided, creating a holistic online-offline retail experience. Retailers could also be provided immersive technologies and analytics tools to manage customers proactively. These technologies are advancing from good-to-haves to must-haves, amid accelerated changes in consumer behaviour and intensifying competition.
With the pandemic highlighting the need for contactless solutions, a turnkey retail space could further evolve to an unmanned, automated space that integrates online and offline sales channels. One example would be e-kiosks that are designed for touchless, on-the-go purchases. Such turnkey solutions enable cost-efficiencies with their self-service features.
As landlords and retailers navigate through an increasingly challenging retail landscape, turnkey retail could be a win-win solution to revitalise a shopping destination and bolster footfalls.