How Hong Kong malls use health and wellness to lure customers back, starting with millennials
Landmark, Pacific Place and K11 are among the Hong Kong malls responding to growing interest in health and sustainability by adding new services and tweaking the retail mix
Hongkongers love shopping and eating in malls, but evidently not quite enough to keep them visiting (and spending) to the same extent during an economic slowdown.
As GDP growth has slowed in the city and in China, mall operators have looked for new ways to entice shoppers back. One answer has come in the form of a rapidly growing global industry: health and wellness.
Global study on walking puts Hong Kong a step ahead
People in Hong Kong are becoming more health conscious, resulting in a boom in wellness concepts ranging from boutique gyms and athleisure stores to juice bars and organic grocers. A recent study by Stanford University found Hongkongers are the No.1 walkers in the world, taking an average of 6,880 steps a day (the lowest ranked of the 46 countries and regions in the study, Indonesia, managed only 3,513).
Having started small, the health and wellness movement is now hitting the masses as large developers transform high-end malls into wellness destinations.
“People are starting to really care about their health, and how they live,” says James Assersohn, director of Asia-Pacific retail at JLL Hong Kong, a property services firm. “As such, the physical side of wellness is being catered to by landlords. Sportswear and sports brands came in first and have been aggressive to expand. Fitness studios and athleisure brands have started to follow.