SALES-PURCHASE CYCLE EXPECTED TO BE ROBUST
Retailers will be able to offer more attractive prices
THE healthy Sales and Services Tax (SST) regime will contribute to a dynamic sales and purchase lifecycle from shopping centre operators to retailers and consumers, said CPN Ventures Sdn Bhd chief operating officer Anthony Dylan Anak Frankie Jurem.
He said with proper implementation and enforcement of the SST, retailers would be able to offer more attractive prices and value for their products and services, thus enticing consumers to spend.
“Consumers have better options with better pricing structures, on top of having enhanced spending power through greater savings.
“Shopping centre operators can give more competitive rental structures to retailers as they are able to generate positive income due to increased shopper spending,” said Anthony recently.
CPN Malaysia is a subsidiary of Central Pattana Public Co Ltd — Thailand's largest retail developer.
At 22 per cent, it holds the biggest market share of Bangkok’s retail market.
In Malaysia, CPN Malaysia jointly operates the RM850 million Central i-City shopping centre with I-Berhad.
The mall in Section 7, Shah Alam, is opening its doors next month. Anthony said it would be interesting to see how things pan out with SST, looking forward to a more robust shopping centre scene, given the government’s focus on enhancing the livelihood of consumers and boosting their spending power.
“We look forward to a more dynamic retail scene, whereby consumers enjoy better standards of living through a more consumerfriendly tax system that takes into consideration the wellbeing of retail industry players. The expectation of this improves consumer sentiments.”
Antony said, recently, research firm Retail Group Malaysia had revised its retail sales projection upwards to 5.3 per cent, from 4.7 per cent in March, due to growth in consumer spending.
In addition, Malaysia also saw 41 per cent increase in automotive in July.
“These expansion figures point to better spending power returned to consumers,” he said.
In addressing market challenges, Anthony said Central iCity was continuously looking to offer competitive rental structures and provide creative tenant support methods to create a landlord-retailer synergy to help retailers generate sales.