The advent of the digital world has seen people spending less time in shopping centres and more time on the internet and buying only what they need.

This is according to Edcon’s chief executive Bernie Brookes‚ who was speaking on Leadership in Retail at the 20TH Annual South African Council of Shopping Centres (SACSC) held at the Sandton Convention Centre on Wednesday.

Brookes said the digital world is one of the disruptions that have affected people’s buying power.

The difficult consumer environment‚ political instability‚ unemployment‚ the cost of electricity and housing‚ are also some of the disruptions that have seen consumers spending less.

“People are thinking a lot more before they buy. They are researching. You go into a store‚ you’ve already done a little bit of research.

“People are going to be spending less time walking in malls and more on the internet to do research‚” Brookes said.

To successfully deal with these challenges Brookes said a retailer needs to do the following:

1.Invest in omni channel

2.Build loyalty programmes

3.Compete more on price to stay in the game

4.Rethink routes to markets

5.Manage cost impacts

“You’ve got to understand what the consumers are thinking and where they are headed. You’ve got to communicate with your consumers‚” Brookes explained.