With malls playing a significant part in the Singaporean lifestyle, you might be surprised to know that Indonesians too enjoy spending time in shopping centres. We met OPCO, a local F&B lifestyle concept operator with three core businesses: F&B, interior design and fitting for F&B, and consultancy and turnkey solutions for F&B. The company’s executive director, Chris Kuang, is a Singaporean who has been based there for over 5 years. Here’s what he shared pertaining to the retail scene in Indonesia’s shopping malls.

Our participants survey the surroundings of one of Indonesia’s many shopping malls.
Although many locals spend a significant amount of their time in shopping malls, some of them are window shoppers who like to browse and enjoy air-conditioning. As such, it is expected that the sales conversation rate is lower compared to that of Singapore. That being said, the high footfall still translates into a significant stream of customers for F&B businesses as majority of the actual amount spent is on food and beverages.
There is huge shortage of supply for rental retail space in malls. In fact, there are no new malls planned in Jakarta for the next 5 – 7 years to prevent the worsening of the overcrowded traffic conditions in the city. Singapore firms looking to rent outlets in a shopping mall can also consider major cities like Medan, Makasar and Surabaya, where populations are expected to grow rapidly.
Different malls have different characteristics, and attract different demographics. Visitors tend to frequent malls that suit their lifestyle. As such, it is important to choose a mall that matches your target customer profile. You may also consider different food concepts to cater to different groups of consumers e.g. fast food concept for young adults and fine dining for affluent families.