Shopping malls are no longer simply places where people go to buy what they need. Today’s centres are social gathering points, offering everything from groceries to clothing, fast food to fine dining, entertainment and community events among other experiences.
Experience accurately describes what shopping centres and malls offer visitors today. Unfortunately, with the crime situation in South Africa, sometimes this experience becomes a traumatic experience involving guns and violence, sometimes even death. And as much as one may say this is just a factor of living in South Africa, these events have a significant impact on visitors and it takes months for a centre to recover the visitor footfall, tenants moving out of the centre, the cost per square meterage decrease and spending decline resulting from a single incident.
With millions of people visiting these centres, the responsibility and accountability placed on landlords of the shopping centres are immense and the expectation is continuously growing. With the reported security incidents at various malls across the country, which included bomb threats, attacks on high value goods stores within centres, the continuous high risk of Cash In Transit (CIT) operations within the shopping environment, these centres need to strive to create assurance regarding the continuous improvement on security.
It’s not surprising therefore that the Broll Retail Consumer Survey 2014 found that security is the second most important factor considered by consumers when deciding where to shop. Security received a total of 4.46 (out of 5) in the report. Only cleanliness was fractionally more important, with a score of 4.5.
The report showed that pricing was third on the list, with Wi-Fi and coffee shops fourth and fifth respectively, once again highlighting the importance of the experience people have at the mall.
Crest Advisory Africa and Hi-Tech Security Solutions have expanded their joint Risk Management Training Programme to now include a course focused specifically on risk management for shopping centres. The programme includes the standards-based risk management processes and procedures based on ISO 31000, but explains to attendees how these standards can be applied directly to the retail market.
From the first steps in assessing the risks facing a shopping centre, to designing a plan to mitigate those risks by means of the appropriate processes, the correct human resources and the technical support from security cameras and other technology, Risk Management for Shopping Centres covers the best practices required to secure shopping centres of any size.
The Risk Management for Shopping Centres courses, which will consist of a number of practical applied best practices, such as, the optimisation of available Business Intelligence to improve operational readiness, the design of security strategies, which includes the development of a security plan, the environmental design, the infrastructure available and utilised and the reporting and auditing processes, will assist those responsible for the safety of centre tenants and visitors to apply the optimal strategies to ensure everyone enjoys their shopping experience.
For more information contact Nico Snyman, nico@crestadvisoryafrica.com, http://www.crestadvisoryafrica.com/training-courses/
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