Now all kinds of businesses are getting tough experience of surviving in extreme conditions. This especially applies to commercial real estate. Military actions provoked the outflow of the population from the country, the devaluation of the national currency, rapid inflation, a general decline in consumer sentiment, which led to a decrease in the average daily attendance of trade facilities. According to the calculations of UTG company experts, the weighted average attendance rate for large-format shopping centers in the capital for October 2022 was 325 people per 1,000 square meters of GLA, thereby decreasing by 35.7% compared to the beginning of the year.

According to analysts’ calculations, attendance at Kyiv’s regional malls in the 3rd quarter of the current year compared to 2021 in peacetime significantly decreased by 45% from 407 to 224 people per day. A similar situation is observed in district facilities – their traffic has also decreased by 30% compared to pre-war times, from 669 to 468 people per day. The significant drop in attendance compared to peacetime is due to the influence of many factors. First of all, due to the military actions in Ukraine, there is both internal and external displacement of people. Against this background, there is a change in the consumer profile, especially in the regions, which relates to the fact that well-off residents have left, replaced by migrants with low incomes. This leads to a discrepancy between the presented brands and the income of the population. In addition, more and more Ukrainians are forced to cut costs and try to avoid visiting public places and transport with a significant crowd of people due to possible air alarms. All this leads to the fact that the population has become less likely to visit shopping facilities. But those people who remained in the country, as before, need to shop for both necessities and other goods. Against the background of the movement of people, there is an influx of new, older consumers from 50-60 years old into shopping facilities. In addition, despite the reduction of costs and the purchase of fewer goods, Ukrainians pay attention to more favorable offers and sales. At the same time, loyalty to online shopping is growing, so the share of remote purchases has increased by +25%.

But, contrary to the negative consequences of the war, considering the fact that, compared to February-March, buyers are gradually returning to the country, the visibility of commercial real estate will gradually increase. In addition, it is necessary to take into account such factors as delayed demand, which will definitely affect the turnover of commercial real estate, although for now most Ukrainians prefer to leave expensive purchases for a little later.

Source: AllRetail