This article by Stephen Dewaele, General Manager – Shopping Centres, QIC, was featured in the latest issue of Shopping Centre News (SCN Vol. 40 No. 4 – Mini Guns 2022). Premium members can view the digital magazine here

Increasingly, we’re all becoming aware of the importance of our shopping centres in relation to public health and wellbeing. Recent research undertaken for QIC revealed that 68% of its customers considered shopping centres as a major contribution to their way of life. Stress levels were reduced – quite simply a visit to a shopping centre was a pleasant experience!

At QIC, we are continually evolving our centres to keep pace with changing consumer priorities and values. To this end, we’ve been working closely with market intelligence partners such as McCrindle Research these past couple of tumultuous years to refine our understanding of the consumer megatrends shaping how Australians will live, work and shop in the decade ahead.

We recently released the findings of the first of six significant studies, in which we interviewed more than 4,500 shoppers (comprising QIC database members and an Australia-wide panel) about their beliefs and behaviours in relation to self-improvement and wellbeing.

The findings confirmed what our frontline teams observe on a daily basis: shopping centres play a vital role in the physical and mental wellbeing of local communities through the products and services they house and the opportunities for social connection they provide. However, the extent to which people rely on retail destinations for their personal wellbeing is little understood outside the industry and deserves closer attention.

More than half of the Australians we surveyed labelled their local shopping centre a major contributor to quality of life, and this sentiment rang true for 68% of existing QIC customers. This finding was compounded by the fact that 44% of Australians surveyed (and 64% of QIC customers) categorised shopping centres as an important source of stress relief. Such results highlight the critical role that retail-anchored town centres play in a community’s pursuit of optimal health and wellbeing. Whenever I walk around a busy dining precinct or hear of a community group gathering in one of our properties, I am reminded just how well shopping centres serve as crossroads for connection amid the social isolation stoked by many aspects of modern life.

According to our 2022 study, time spent on wellbeing is ‘extremely’ or ‘very’ important for four in five Australians, with Generation-Z shoppers marginally more focused on health than previous generations.

Research principal Mark McCrindle put it best when he explained: “The study showed that wellness is not only a priority in terms of time but money as well; Australians are allocating part of their weekly budget to these products and services, as if we recognise that it’s an investment in ourselves.”

The anecdotal evidence suggests today’s shoppers have psychologically reframed activities that would previously have been deemed consumerist, such as athleisurewear purchases or café meetups with friends, as investments in their emotional and physical health. We certainly see this outlook extending to visitors actively seeking out a broader range of experiences at our centres, with demand growing for everything from fitness classes and physical therapies to beauty services and healthy eating venues.

We were particularly interested to note that respondents familiar with a QIC property are significantly more likely than the average consumer to prefer engaging in self-improvement activities within a shopping centre rather than at home. This inclination speaks to our long-term prioritisation of wellness in both the design and retail mix of our properties, having doubled the floor space we allocate to health and wellness since 2010.

As well as partnering with the country’s leading fitness, beauty and holistic wellbeing operators, we have invested heavily in recent years to develop fresh food precincts like The Marketplace at Watergardens and curate new athleisure malls such as those found at Eastland and Canberra Centre.

Through further exploration of the role of retail design in fostering mental wellbeing, we were also interested to learn that 42% of our Generation-Z customers surveyed would be ‘extremely’ or ‘very’ likely to make use of a rest-and-recharge zone within a shopping centre, which is slightly more than the 28% of Baby Boomers surveyed who are keen to ‘unplug’ in a public space.

Our hope is that this research, and the studies to follow, will empower our retail partners to optimise their products, services and marketing tactics in line with shifting customer needs and social habits. It has already reinforced our commitment to supporting healthy lifestyle outcomes for the communities we serve.

Wellness Hub, Castle Towers

In September, we launched a touring initiative called the Wellness Hub as part of a new strategic partnership with the YMCA and Nutrition Australia. Beginning with pop-ups at seven of our centres in Victoria, Queensland and New South Wales, the initiative marks a vital first step in tackling diet-related illness and low rates of regular exercise within our trade areas. The activity program includes cooking classes, market tours and nutritional coaching sessions, as well as group fitness classes and walking groups – and there’s much more to come via this new collaboration.

I look forward to sharing more insights and key learnings in the coming months. Zooming out to look at the consumer-driven trends disrupting Australia’s biggest industries is one of the ways we can ensure we are shaping a future for retail that we can all be excited about.