Sales Down For China Malls, Could Turn to Same-Day Delivery

When you think of e-commerce, the US has always been the primary country that is spearheading online growth. Not anymore. China's e-commerce is thriving, even to the point that mall stores are seeing the effects of it.

Mall and restaurant traffic is seeing a decline in China reported the Internet Retailer via Bloomberg News. Traffic decreased in November, which is not a good sign as the holiday shopping season begins that month. The article stated it is due to a surge of online shopping activity, according to Baidu, operator of China’s dominant search engine, and JD.com. China's wealthy shoppers are opting to go online to buy more pricier items. Less traffic translates into less sales. This is the time that retailers look forward to, even to where this season helps to compensate for any revenue losses during the course of the year.

Online retail is expected to grow to $500 billion by 2018 and China's leading retailer Alibaba is the front runner there, which also offer Same-Day Delivery in several big cities. The online retailer is the Amazon of China, even generated $18 billion in sales in one day during November. The numbers attest to the lower traffic in malls, as more and more shoppers are comfortable with buying online there. It is convenient, easy and saves our most valued commodity--time.

“China’s two-speed scenario is having a major impact on the country’s retail industry,” said Jason Yu, general manager for China at consumer research firm Kantar Worldpanel. He went on to say, “This massive explosion of online sales growth is being fueled by increasing diversification in the categories purchased online, as well as huge gains in imported products and consumers taking advantage of promotions.” One of the major attractions to online retail is that consumers have access right in the palm of their hands to real-time holiday discounts. With their mobile device, a shopper can look for online deals and instantly take advantage of them.

The question is then how will malls be able to match the surge of online growth, which shows no signs of slowing down? One strategy US department store leaders Macy's took in the US was to create the omnichannels necessary to bridge their online store with its' physical ones via same-day delivery. Macy's partnered with start-up delivery company Deliv and launched same-day delivery in multiple major US cities last year. Deliv uses a crowd-sourcing approach and delivers in-store products from Macy mall locations to online shoppers.

Macy's started its' same-day delivery program in San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Jose, Seattle, Houston, Chicago, New Jersey, and Washington DC. Its' sister company Bloomingdale's rolled out the service in San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Jose, and Chicago as well. With at least 885 mall locations, Macy's has been able to use its' store volume to its' advantage, utilizing them essentially as warehouses to fulfill online orders from. Nordstrom's has engaged in some same-day delivery also.

Like Macy's, it makes sense for mall retailers to turn to same-day delivery to improve sales. Malls can shift with the trend of getting product to the customer, versus the customer coming to the mall when they don't have to. A retailer can partner with a Same-Day Courier like A-1 Express to pick up from mall locations and then deliver to the shopper. The Washington DC Courier has a national footprint and can assist malls in regaining their shoppers back.

Reference: 12.12.16, www.internetretailer.com, Bloomberg News, China’s e-commerce boom shrinks mall shopping traffic