An industry that has been schooled in the importance of location, location, location now needs to focus on “footfall, footfall, footfall”, according to CBRE Global Investors head of retail EMEA Eric Decouvelaere.
Speaking at MAPIC last week, Decouvelaere laid out his views on the new investment criteria.
“We need to have the right location in densely populated, of course,” he said. “But this is now only part of the job, location is no longer sufficient. Now it is vital that you understand your customer, both the retailer and the shopper, and that we stop using the old vocabulary of asset manager and think of ourselves as proposition managers.”
Decouvelaere joined CBRE Global Investors from designer outlet specialist McArthurGlen earlier this year and he said that he aims to bring the skills learned at a business well known for its tenant relationships and turnover rent model to the shopping centre, retail park and high street portfolio, which encompasses around €15bn in value across 16 countries.
“I would say that this industry blossomed under a different set of circumstances but that doesn’t work any longer. We are transforming very quickly but you have to do more than talk, because a strategy without execution is hallucination,” he said.
Rather, Decouvelaere believes that real estate companies need to embrace a “rapid retail evolution” and the opportunities that omnichannel retailing can bring.
“Omnichannel is not just a channel between the retailer and the customer, it is something that we as landlords need to be part of. We have the data and the shopping information and we need to be part of the insight and the conversation with the consumer,” he said. “I am a strong believe that we are at a very exciting time for retail – and I am speaking not just at CBRE Global Investors but across the industry. Our role is to bring together the right blend of tenants and brands. It is a new era and a very exciting age for retail.”
