4 Shopping Center Management Best Practices You May Not Be Following

As a retail property owner, you want to ensure that you apply the best management practices to attract retailers, especially when it comes to commercial utilities. Entrepreneurs want to take their businesses to locations where they see a difference in property management practices. Here are simple features and tips that will allow you to maximize your spending!

You might have applied some trending management practices that have proven to be successful, but what else can you use to make a difference? Being unique will pay off in the long run, and for your shopping center to stand out from the many, you need to be creative and come up with practices like the following.

1. Optimize your Utility Costs

Utilities are essential to the operation of shopping centers for the use of heating and cooling systems, electrical systems and appliances, water usage, and more. In order to maximize your savings and support the planet, it is important to actively seek out sustainable solutions in your buildings. Research has shown that not only do consumers want to work with sustainable companies, but a whopping 90 percent of CEOs say that sustainability is important to their company’s success.

One solution to consider is installing solar panels on the roof of your building. Applying this practice will help your tenants to save money on electricity bills. Using data analysis, leak alarms, irrigation optimization, and efficiency retrofits can allow you and your tenants to save on utility expenses. Being able to understand energy market trends will provide your company with the most opportunities to save and reduce risks. Conservice has expertise in negotiating energy rates and performing energy market analyses and can provide you with the best options.

Optimizing your energy costs can save you hundreds of thousands of dollars each year on energy spend. Becoming more sustainable is growing ever more popular as more people come to understand the benefits. Plus, using sustainable solutions is financially smart, especially when dealing with large properties. Reducing energy also has a positive impact on the environment. More customers will be attracted to your property knowing they will save money and the planet!

2. Install Submeters

Installing a submetering system provides solutions that benefit both property owners and tenants. Water, electricity, and gas submeters allow owners to charge each tenant for their usage only. Tenants prefer to pay their utility bills based on their individual usage rather than splitting the cost among various tenants. Furthermore, if tenants are responsible for their utility usage, they will use fewer resources and conserve more.

Submetering allows you to provide accurate billing, recover expenses, and encourage conservation. If you are looking for a new way to attract tenants, installing submetering equipment is a simple solution with highly beneficial results. Conservice has installed and maintained submeter systems for over fifteen years, has the expertise to figure out the perfect submetering solution for your properties, and provides online tools and reporting to detect high usage and leaks.

3. Improve Curb Appeal

In any shopping center, presentation matters. No retailer will agree to do business in a dull environment. Curb appeal represents how attractive your area is and the overall reputation of the center. Customers may not want to buy anything from the shopping centers without proper care and cleanliness of the facility. New customers will become more inclined to enter with simple curb appeal practices.

Research has shown that curb appeal is multidimensional and consists of both architectural structure and appearance, the authenticity of the building, and the overall atmosphere of the location. The same research study reveals that both architectural and atmospheric dimensions have a tremendous positive impact on sales. When you improve curb appeal, you are driving more customers to your shopping center.

4. Get Public Liability Insurance

Insuring your retailers’ customers is a critical management practice. Many buyers will want to shop where they know that they are covered in case of any emergencies, and your facility’s reputation when situations are handled poorly. At shopping centers, accidents can occur quite frequently. The accidents can be from a fall, a fire, a theft, or injuries related to a break-in.

Taking care of the victims using the public liability insurance policy will mean a lot to your retailers and the public, and will boost your overall reputation. When you take such steps in your shopping area, you are opening wide doors for your retailers to do business without worrying about what happens if an accident should occur.

Learn More About How to Improve Your Shopping Center

If you want to learn even more ways to improve your bottom line, download our free ebook “Stop Losing Money: How to Plug the Leaks in Your Commercial Property Finances.”  Conservice is more than a multifamily utility company—we have the capabilities to assist you with any of your utility billing services across multiple industries.