WITH foot traffic at a dismal 20 percent and tenant occupancy at 30 to 40 percent, malls and retailers are in for a much-needed boost as the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is now considering the opening of more establishments.
DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez yesterday said the agency is looking at what health and safety protocols can be applied for the reopening of salons and barbers shops and for allowing of 50-percent dine-in operations of fastfood and restaurants under a general community quarantine.
Lopez yesterday led a demonstration for the possibility of allowing dine-in at a restaurant in SM Mall of Asia.
Officials of big mall developers SM, Ayala and Robinsons on Saturday said in a radio interview their establishments have noted an average of 10 to 20 percent foot traffic in Metro Manila and other areas under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) with just 30 to 40 percent of tenants open.
Higher capacity rates were noted in areas under general community quarantine of about 40 to 50 percent as consumers continue to stay home.
Officials said mall-goers stick to just purchasing essentials and stay at the malls for a short period
According to Lopez, malls are not collecting rents on those that remain closed while some have adjusted rentals of tenants that have opened. Others collect just a percentage of the sales of tenants and waived the fixed fees.
“The bigger worry is the low foot traffic because movement of people remains restricted (under MECQ),” Lopez said.
Meanwhile, electronic commerce platforms Lazada and Shopee have noted increased traffic on their sites and even on social media for online shopping.
In his presentation at a webinar hosted by the German-Philippine Chamber of Commerce Inc., Lazada head of business development Petrus Pedro Carbonell noted e-commerce is the largest and fastest growing segment of the internet economy in Southeast Asia which is poised to triple to $300 billion by 2025 from $100 billion in 2019.
Carbonell said e-commerce has recorded 2 million site visits per day in the Philippines with Lazada the only shopping site in the top 10 in 2019.
He also noted the huge potential in the Philippines for Lazada.
He said Lazada Wallet’s share of electronic payment has jumped to 35 percent from 20 percent, indication of Filipinos’ willingness to embrace cashless shopping.
Carbonell said Lazada has intensified its partnerships with banks and other payment gateways for the convenience of shoppers.
Meanwhile, Shopee said it has observed more Filipinos are turning to online platforms for their entertainment needs.
In particular, in-app games such as Shopee Farm and Shopee Shake are highly popular among Filipinos in recent months, as they shop and play on their mobile phones.
The platform noted 70 percent more plays for Shopee Farm, a social and interactive in-app game where users earn special rewards for logging in regularly to water their plants virtually and four times more plays for the all-time favorite Shopee Shake as users log in regularly to earn Shopee coins and save more while they shop
Shopee said shoppers are increasingly tuning in to Shopee Live as their preferred source of entertainment, recording 30 million views in a single month. Shopee Live is also becoming popular among Filipinos across all ages, as users aged 18 to 50 tune in regularly to watch a wide variety of live streams in April.
