Key performance factors identification model for shopping mall investments in Turkiye

Abstract

Key performance factors in commercial project investments in Türkiye are identified by the model conceived in this thesis. This model reflects the most significant performance factors impacting the retail store sales performance and thus contributing to the efficiency of shopping mall investments. It is noteworthy that the success of shopping malls is primarily contingent on the retail stores' sales performance. To achieve this goal, this study has conducted a thorough literature review, where performance factors are demonstrated in previous researches. Following the thorough literature review, the identified factors were classified into three dependent variables such as the retail store design performance, the building design performance and the building services performance variables. Since the existing researches did not focus on the ranking of the performance factors, this study aimed to evaluate the ranking of the performance factors impacting the retail store sales performance to create a guiding model for commercial project investors and shopping mall designers. As a result, this new model is expected to significantly influence the design processes of retail project groups and investors. It aimed to identify the significance of the factors that impact the sales performance of retail stores. By achieving this, the study intends to provide a scientific perspective and a robust foundation for shopping mall investments, enabling the creation of well-designed and effective commercial investments. Following the classification of the factors, a questionnaire was developed for expert judgement. This step aimed at discussing and consolidating the identified performance factors. To assess the content validity of the identified measurement factors, the study conducted interviews with seven experts in the retail industry and three customers using the expert judgement method. The experts consisted of a group of professionals with more than 15 years of experience in the retail sector. The interviewed experts were asked to evaluate the measurement factors for content validity with the Five-Point Likert scale (5-strongly agree, 1-strongly disagree). Irrespective of the category of dependent variables, the expert judgement results demonstrated the most significant performance factors impacting the retail store sales performance as the presence of carpark and the brand variety with the same highest scores. The retail store visibility and the retail store interior design factors followed them in the second rank. Some additional performance factors were also suggested by the experts such as marketing billboards in the mall, social responsibility projects, social activities, direct relationship of the mall with the public spaces, flexible architectural design according to weather conditions and abundant use of landscape in the shopping mall. Furthermore, the following four retail store design performance factors, which were not significant with the lowest scores, were eliminated: the proximity of the retail store to the customer wet cores, the proximity of the retail store to the foodcourt, the proximity of the retail store to the delivery yard and the proximity of the retail store to the event area. These updated factors were added to or eliminated from the questionnaire to obtain a revised list for the pilot study. Successively, after forming the final questionnaire, the pilot study was conducted with 16 retail store managers with over 15 years of experience. They evaluated each factor via a questionnaire survey. Respondents in the pilot study ranked the most crucial factors as brand variety, presence of carpark, heating/ventilation/air conditioning (HVAC) comfort, shopping mall lighting design. The findings of the pilot study were then tested for model accuracy using diverse modelling systems such as the structural equation modelling (SEM) and the artificial neural network (ANN). AMOS (Analysis of Moment Structures), one of the most preferred software for Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) is used during this study. The R software environment was used for artificial neural network analysis. After the consolidation of the performance factors via the expert judgement and the pilot study, a last check has been made by the İTÜ Ethical Committee and the main research has been initiated by sending the final questionnaire to 314 retail store managers in 6 shopping malls in 5 different cities of Türkiye: İskenderun, Antakya, Gaziantep, Sivas and İstanbul. The main study evaluated the performance factors in the pre-pandemic period and the pandemic period. After several calls, reminders, site visits and face-to-face meetings, the respondents' number reached 204, which is above the targeted minimum number of respondents. For the pre-pandemic period, respondents ranked the most crucial factors as the brand variety, the presence of carpark, the efficiency of cleaning services, the lighting design concept of the shopping mall, and the HVAC comfort in the shopping mall. The top five factors did not alter in the pandemic period but the efficiency of cleaning services and the HVAC comfort were ranked as the highest two factors successively. Contrary to the expectations from the existing researches published in the literature, the average score of the building service performance factors is the highest among the average score of the three dependent variables (building design performance, retail store design performance and building service performance). The brand variety factor outperformed all other performance factors such building design factors or retail store design factors. The study further revealed that the retail store design performance variable achieved a substantially lower score in total, positioning it behind the two other variables (the building design performance variable and the building services performance variable). This thesis finally suggests that when a shopping mall is designed in accordance with the most significant factors (the brand variety, the presence of carpark, the efficiency of cleaning services, the HVAC comfort, the shopping mall lighting design), the retail stores located in the shopping mall are likely to experience enhanced performance. This improvement, in turn, translates into a tangible return on investment for the shopping mall development, a noteworthy recommendation for shopping mall investors and designers.