Silverdale Shopping Mall: Business Communication

In today’s world, people have become more product specific and prefer to shop all the products under one roof. People of Auckland also prefer to shop all at once under one roof but due to some limitations such as location, accessibility, convenience and product availability they find difficulty in doing so. Finding this an excellent business opportunity, Westfield company has decided to open new shopping malls in ten different locations of Auckland. The business plan is under development as the study regarding the Location, cost of infrastructure, accessibility and number of visitor is still on. This study is important to decide the profit and loss ratio and sustainability of the business in competitive world. The report discusses about the key aspects of this study and reason behind choosing a specific location.

 

2.1 Background

Westfield Shopping Mall Company is one of the prime supermarket operators in New Zealand’s. The company is recognised by majority of people living in New Zealand. Westfield Company is known for improving public convenience by constructing new shopping amenities across New Zealand and currently, the company is planning to open up few more shopping malls in Auckland region. Westfield already owns few shopping malls in Manukau City, New Market, St Lukes, West city, Glenfield and Albany and constructing other few would certainly be a creditable achievement.

2.2 Purpose

Seven’s Son Ltd has prepared a report which simplifies the information gathered regarding 10 locations (Britomart, Grafton, Panmure, Flatbush, Takapuna, Kumeu, Mangere, Onehunga, Pukekohe, Waiheke). The report focuses on key factors such as location, parking, infrastructure, and public transport. The purpose of this report is to study these factors and calculate the profit and loss ratio to decide the success percentage of the business.

2.3 Demand or need for a shopping mall

Customers in this area have to come all the way down to Albany Westfield mall for shopping, hence the company plans to build another mall in Silverdale so that population residing in upper north region can avail shopping facility over short distance. According to 2011 census, the population of Silverdale was close to 3,267 and the growth rate is exponential. By 2031, the population is expected to be 140,000 which means a growth rate of approximately 37% (Colin taylor, 2015). This shows that there is a vast opportunity for retail business in this area as demand increases with increasing population.

3.1 Location

Shopping malls differ from other commercial buildings. The location should be people centric which should be able to pull customers from various locations. The most important feature is parking which is mandatory as people prefer visit to a shopping mall in their own vehicle. The parking area should be directly related to the retail area hence the mall should be constructed in such a manner that it should have enough area for retail as well as parking. In Silverdale, such area is identified which can satisfy all the requirements of the shopping centre. This 4 hectares of land is under special zoning and hence can also be used for commercial development if desired. Hence the company prefers this location suitable for its new project.

3.2 Cost & Profitability

To plan any new project, the future profit margins should be kept in mind. As the population is expected to grow, the profit margin will also increase considerably over a period of time.  Studies show that “Annual household expenditure is projected to grow from $876 million in 2011 to $1.2 billion by 2031, representing a 51 per cent growth” (Colin taylor, 2015). Shopping malls are expected to earn huge profits from renting; “The recently opened Silverdale Centre, which includes major anchor tenants The Warehouse and Countdown and generates $5.5 million in total net annual rental income, is being marketed for sale by Colliers International” (Colin taylor, 2013). Whole Westfield shopping mall profit trend is positive as well. According to article, “Australian shopping centre giant Westfield, which owns nine New Zealand malls, reported an 18.3 per cent rise in profits last year to A$1.72 billion ($2.1 billion)” (Jazial crossley, 2013). Another Westfield shopping mall in New Zealand generates huge profit and income statement shows stable profit. Both 2013 and 2014 profit is above 1.6 billion (Westfieldcorpcom, 2015). From all these statistics, we can conclude that shopping mall at Silverdale can be a profit venture for Westfield company.

3.3 Retail Outlet

The 10 storeyed building of westfield shopping mall at silverdale will have close to 300 outlets. These outlets are designed to accommodate various categories of retail products which includes: food court, fashion and clothing, cosmetics, pharmacy, luggage shop, entertainment places (movie, gaming, karaoke), department store (Farmer’s, Smith & Caughey’s) and even sport & fitness (Rebel Sports).

3.4 Parking

              Parking actually is a daily issue happening nowadays since there is no much space of land to build a parking space in central of Auckland. Customers prefer to park their cars as close as possible to the malls entrance/exit so they don’t need to carry their stuff over long distance. Also sometimes the weather is not favourable for the customers to park their cars at a certain distance. Safety is again a major concern and people prefer parking inside the building rather than streets. Hence we have decided to dedicate 3 floors for parking with each floor designed to save 1000 cars. This will resolve majority of the parking issues and will in return attract more customers.

3.5 Public Transport

              Public transport is one of the most important component for running any business successfully. Without proper connectivity to public transport, the new business can never reach to common people. The location of mall has a bus stop just outside its exit. Majority of the buses connecting major areas halt at this bus stop. Also Silverdale station is just 560mts away from mall so it is easy to reach the mall via train. With increasing population, the public transport will also improve.

Westfield mall is a convenient shopping center for people living in upper North. We focused on the customer demand and needs so all the peoples can avail the offers and discounts increasing the profitability. There is high demand for new shopping center and the area has good future site of view. As you can see, the location, public transport and parking space is planned in such a way that it will definitely attract more and more customers.

 

Firstly as this report mentioned above, the location of new shopping centre should be nearby motorway for easy access. There is good area to build new shopping mall in Silverdale. Secondly, a building for car park is recommended. In winter, the weather is not favourable. Most of New Zealand shopping mall parking area could provide comfortable infrastructure for customers to tackle changes in weather. This new shopping mall highly recommend to build parking building so people are comfortable whatever the weather is. Third important aspect to be considered will be the security. The company should provide a good security so that customers will feel safe to shop in that premises.

 

Retrieved from Auckland Transport: https://at.govt.nz/driving-parking/parking-in-auckland/

Retrieved from Westfield Shopping Mall Website: https://www.westfield.co.nz/?state=auckland

Retrieved from Hotcity Website: http://www.hotcity.co.nz/about-the-cbd