Thinking above and beyond the shopping bag
Retail innovation is often measured by what is new—brands, concepts, technologies or attractions.
There is, however, another equally important dimension to innovation: improving what customers already experience. Staying relevant, after all, also means easing common pain points, improving convenience, enhancing comfort and making the mall more intuitive to navigate.
Innovations on both fronts
SM Supermalls has undoubtedly proven strong on both fronts, continuously bringing in sought-after brands, introducing fresh formats, and integrating the latest technologies in its malls. At the same time, it still pays close attention to the more practical details that shape the customer experience, from parking and navigation to comfort and accessibility.
In many ways, it is a more nuanced extension of SM’s long running “We’ve got it all for you” promise: not just having more under one roof, but also making the entire visit more responsive to how people shop, dine, unwind and spend time today.
This is why beyond the typical retail innovations, SM Supermalls also ensures to improve customer service, though not in the usual sense, said SM Supermalls president Steven T. Tan.
“It’s not about saying ‘Hi sir, ma’am’ when they enter… Good service is making sure that the customer, when they come to the mall, (won’t be) confused. The navigation is clear,” he said.
That also extends to cooling, accessibility and ease of parking, Tan said. These basic considerations have become far more important nowadays when consumers are increasingly conscious of both money and time.
Continued patronage
This may help explain why SM malls remain full even as consumers become more selective with their spending. People may be watching their budgets more closely, but they are still making room for places that feel convenient and worth their time.
In fact, many are also staying longer than usual.
“The dwell time actually expanded,” Tan said, noting that shoppers who previously stayed for about two hours are now spending roughly another hour or so in the mall in many cases.
That behavior is reflected in SM’s performance. Revenues in the first half of the year rose 8 percent to P41 billion, while occupancy rates hit a record 96 percent, up from 94 percent last year, and 92 percent in 2024.
‘Gen Z council’
But strong numbers have not made SM complacent. The company continues to track how expectations are changing, even forming an internal “Gen Z council”, wherein younger officers read the pulse of their generation and bring their insights directly to senior management.
“The key here is you listen, listen carefully, and do not be like you know it all, because you learn so much from the younger generation,” Tan said.
This is already visible in the mall mix. Food, which accounted for less than 5 percent of SM’s tenancy when Tan joined in 2004, now makes up about 30 percent, alongside newer concepts and experiences meant to keep the mall fresh and relevant.
Expanding experiences
This is the reason why sports also became a growing part of the mix.
SM now has over a hundred pickleball courts and more than two dozen running hubs, while more than 40,000 runners joined its major running events in Manila and Cebu in the first half.
According to SM officials, some of these started as underused spaces: atriums were turned into pickleball courts, while mall perimeters became running routes. As demand grew, so did SM’s sports offerings. It’s another sign that, beyond spending, malls are also competing for a free hour, a family meal, a morning run and a place to meet friends.
These insights further gave individual malls more character. Tan explained that in La Union, coastal design cues and beach volleyball reflect the setting. In Zamboanga, local patterns take a more prominent role, while regional malls are giving hometown food concepts greater visibility.
SM Nuvali, the newest flagship mall of SM Supermalls, takes many of these ideas further.
Tan called this highly anticipated mall, which is set to open on November 27 this year, as “the next expression of the SM experience.”
One of its standout features is the one-hectare indoor garden surrounded by restaurants. The airconditioned space will use a membrane system that allows sunlight in while trapping and exhausting heat, creating an outdoor feel without the humidity. This is the same technology you’ll find at Gardens by the Bay in Singapore.
Indeed, what SM Supermalls is doing now may be a more telling measure of retail innovation today. In this day and age, when experience increasingly influences where people choose to spend their time, the smartest thing a mall can offer may simply be a better reason to come back.
