How to Market Retail Property and Shopping Centres Today – Tips for Commercial Real Estate Agents

When marketing a retail property or shopping centre today, there are some critical factors to be considered prior to the commencement of the marketing program.

Every marketing campaign needs to be optimised for the right type of inquiry and the target market. There are enough frustrations today with property finance and finance availability to frustrate many potential purchasers of retail property.

Shopping Centre Marketing Strategies

On that basis, the key factors to consider in your retail centre marketing campaign should include the following:

1. Make sure that the timing of the campaign is suited to the local area. Any holiday periods or times of business change such as the end of the financial year should be avoided.
2. Review other properties in the local area to identify any factors of competition and price that you will be up against. In such a case, it pays to inspect those properties and obtain a copy of their marketing material. This information will give you ideas to structure and adjust to your marketing campaign.
3. Ensure that all lease matters and tenancy matters are under control and finalized. Any lease documentation matters such as rent reviews, options, lease expires, and make good matters should all be finalised.
4. The success of a retail property stems from the customer trade and the presentation of the property. All matters of property presentation, cleanliness, signage, and functionality should be of high quality.
5. Get details of the operational costs for the property. These will be the outgoings for the current year and the history of outgoings over the last few years. Most potential purchasers will want to understand the net income that they can achieve from the current gross income. The outgoings for the property will be the differential.
6. The repairs and maintenance for the property should be up to date. This will help the tenant relations within the property and assist the sale process.
7. The common areas within the property should be well lit, clean, and functional. The common areas keep the customer at the property for extended shopping periods. These common areas are also highly visible at the time of marketing and any inspections that may occur with buyers.

When it comes to property performance, retail is quite different and is based on the success of the tenancies, the sales, and the customer’s shopping patterns; its a retail balance or formula to work to. Without these factors supporting the property, it is likely that the sale will fail.