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MAPIC is one of the most respected international events in the field of retail and commercial real estate. This year, the event brought together more than 8,000 participants from 80 countries, including 2,000 retailers, 2,200 developers and 1,300 investors. As RAU official MAPIC representative in Ukraine Dmytro Dopiro told, in the last few years, interest in the exhibition by Ukrainian companies has been stable: commercial real estate brokers, retailers, developers and consultants are coming to Cannes.
“Participation in MAPIC is not only about contracting, finding potential partners, but also getting acquainted with the experience of companies from all over the world. The rapid development of information technology leads to the emergence of new concepts in retail, new ways of communication with customers. New trends are widely discussed at MAPIC and participation in the exhibition can be very useful for Ukrainian entrepreneurs, ”said Dmitry Dopiro, adding that about 30 Ukrainian businessmen and top executives visited the exhibition this year.
These included representatives of the Association of Retailers of Ukraine and a partner of the Association in the field of brokerage - consulting company Retail & Development Advisor.
“MAPIC is one of the most significant retail and real estate developments in the world that has a real impact on the development of the industry. Brands find new partners to develop and make decisions about entering new markets, developers present their projects, attracting investors and tenants, and retailers find new ideas and solutions to improve their business, ”commented Retail & Development Advisor partner Alexander Fialka.
Interestingly, this year MAPIC launched a new project - Retailers Club - that promoted the creation of unique business spaces with a number of benefits for retailers. Retailers Club provided an exclusive range of services for guests of the retail industry at a fair price, which was almost twice cheaper than a standard ticket for the event. However, only retail, restaurant, entertainment and leisure operators could take advantage of the offer.
In turn, the head of the board of the Association of Retailers of Ukraine Andriy Zhuk stressed that in our country there are no measures of this magnitude. “However, a few years ago, the Retailers Association launched its own international exhibition, Retail & Development Business EXPO, which is now the largest profile event in Ukraine, hosting up to 2000 visitors in two days. An event of this magnitude would not have been possible without learning from the MAPIC experience, which is considered to be a leading retail event, ”says Beetle.
By the way, the MAPIC exhibition area is another pride of event organizers. It covers an area of 12,000 square meters. m on several floors and allows participants to get acquainted with projects and innovative solutions of more than 750 exhibitors. At the same time, MAPIC 2019 also operated regional pavilions and two thematic areas dedicated to innovation and leisure.
The only exhibitor from Ukraine at the MAPIC exhibition was NAI Ukraine, which presented a number of Ukrainian projects in the field of commercial real estate. Among them are the great metropolis of Vagif Aliyev - Lavina Mall, Ocean Mall, Blockbuster Mall and others. However, according to Vitaly Boyko, CEO and founder of NAI Ukraine, first of all, for the company at the exhibition are important meetings with global brands that are absent in the Ukrainian market and do not see it as a direction for expansion.
“They are a priority for us. We try to meet with decision-makers at such companies, and at meetings we show real statistics of the Ukrainian economy, tell about the output of other brands - especially their competitors, about the success of these brands. And we can say that from a large number of meetings with almost all target brands we managed to hold promising talks, ”says Boyko.
According to him, the second important goal is to meet with companies that are interested in entering our market but are losing time to find partners. “They are afraid to invest on their own - they want their brand to be present in Ukraine, but through a local partner. We try to convince retailers of the need for a direct exit. We support the view that working with brand owners is a priority for both the country and the mall developers. International companies are making real investments in the country's economy, "says NAI Ukraine CEO, noting that the company has held more than 60 meetings with global retailers this year, including a number of iconic companies - Galeries Lafayette, Media Markt, Sephora, Starbucks, Deichmann, C&A and others.
It is worth noting that an important part of MAPIC is a large-scale conference program. This year it consisted of more than 100 sessions on the latest developments in the field of development, new retail concepts and modern retail outlets around the world. Colliers International (Ukraine) managing director Oleksandr Nosachenko, who also visited MAPIC 2019, said that the main theme of this year's event was to rethink the very concept of retail, the evolution of commercial real estate, with a greater focus on organizing diverse leisure activities.
“The red line of MAPIC was the inevitable transformation of shopping malls into places of socialization, innovations and unexpected formats, from augmented reality to first-floor coworkings and top-floor gigs. The method of socialization of retail spaces in the world is diverse. The post-Soviet countries have long been practicing a variety of entertainment, including large-format entertainment. European projects are dominated not by entertainment but by large catering areas. Increasingly, additional services are being offered, such as dance schools or educational projects, ”Nosachenko said.
According to him, more than 70 representatives from different offices around the world worked with Colliers International on projects of their countries. «The positive news: the interest of new retailers in the Ukrainian market as a whole, in existing and future projects is active and subject. Our country is still a rather risky market in the international arena, especially for those retailers who judge Ukraine only in terms of statistics and news feeds, where there is much more information about instability than that our H&M shows phenomenal results compared to other countries in Eastern Europe. At the same time, there are a number of big brands that are looking very closely at our country, have seen modern shopping malls and projects under construction. Their entry into the market is possible in two to three years », - said Alexander Nosachenko.
Despite some positive trends, Vitaly Boyko believes that more attention should be paid not only to local companies, but also to the state itself, at such international exhibitions. “The government needs to understand that the retail market is 30% of GDP. And the country does not participate in the promotion of its retail market as a promising place of work for international retailers who can invest foreign money in the economy. But at the same time he is promoting such exhibitions as MIPIM, which are dedicated to development, although the share of real estate in our country's GDP - less than 3%. It wouldn't hurt to review priorities, ”the top manager said.
