Malls luring shoppers with cartoons
Retail landlords have increased their marketing budgets and pinned their hopes on cartoon characters to get more shoppers into their malls in the expectation that consumer spending is set to rise.
Shopping mall MegaBox in Kowloon Bay will spend close to HK$10 million on marketing this summer - up 10 per cent from a year ago; and Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP) has its eye on luring young lovers to get married in its cartoon playground at Sha Tin's New Town Plaza.
SHKP, which is targeting the vast young couples' market in Hong Kong and the mainland, has renovated its Snoopy's World themed playground to provide an alternative venue for weddings.
'We're going to provide young people who don't want to have a very formal wedding with an alternative. Such an option will be popular among mainland couples too,' said Henry Lam Ka-keung, general manager of leasing at Sun Hung Kai Real Estate Agency.
Couples can book the wedding venue online and it will be made available free of charge. But they will need to pay HK$2,800 for related services such as air-conditioning, lighting and staff. Lam said the new service is one of the summer promotions SHKP has launched and it is expected to help boost mall customer traffic and sales revenues by 10 per cent and 12 per cent respectively.
The developer has teamed up with the Shenzhen Municipal Women's Federation to arrange for mainlanders to cross the border and take wedding photos in Hong Kong. It has also lined up some restaurants at the mall to offer daytime wedding banquets at prices ranging from HK$1,500 to HK$3,000 for a table of 12 people - or about half the prices they charge for evening banquets.
Czarina Man Ching-chi, general manager of MegaBox, said the shopping mall's HK$10 million marketing budget was up 10 per cent on a year ago and would be used to organise interactive activities for children with Disney cartoon characters, in a bid to attract families.
'We forecast that the number of visitors and their spending will rise by 20 to 30 per cent this summer,' she said. Man is upbeat about the retail market because of the healthy local economy, and she expect mainland group tours to increase by one-fifth to more than 20, involving at least 1,000 tourists, this summer.
The apm mall in East Kowloon is investing HK$6 million on summer promotions, up 20 per cent from a year ago. The mall is expecting 21 million visitors this summer and expects them to spend at least HK$590 million, up 20 per cent from last year.
Vernon Ma Wai-lock, promotions and marketing manager at Times Square, said the mall in Causeway Bay had also increased its marketing budget by 10 per cent this summer. Apart from displays and activities featuring the latest Harry Potter movie, it has also joined hands with credit-card issuer China UnionPay to offer mainlanders discounts and gifts on shopping.
'We see more mainland customers coming to shop in Hong Kong because the summer sale period has started. With the Chinese yuan appreciating and the discounts, it's more attractive for them to come and shop here,' he said. Customer traffic through the mall is expected to rise at least 10 per cent during the period.
