In two sentences, what do you do?
We are the marketplace connecting real estate and independent business and consumers. Powered by technology platforms, we are revolutionising outdoor mobile retail.
What does Open Collaboration mean to you?
Smart collaboration is one of our core values. It is the reason we have started this business. We believe that everyone can win with our business model, and it takes collaboration and teamwork to do what we do. We work very closely and collaborate with not only traders and vendors but also large corporations and real estate companies. Communication is key for us, and that is why we have created this tech platform – to provide a seamless end to end marketplace for all. Smart collaboration should add value in a number of ways.
Collaboration for us means working closely to propel each other’s businesses, helping each other with making noise in relevant marketplaces, and using tools to make offerings better.
What trends and developments in the Proptech industry do you think will be discussed the most this year?
Tenant experience and wellness is a major theme which we are helping to tackle. Access and mobility play a major part here. The rise of space utilisation through geo-mapping technology will continue to grow and showcase the opportunity for under-utilised space. We will see more collaboration in this area. The rise of co-communities and mixed-use real estate developments is a trend which will not be going anywhere. We are happy to see that people are seeing the value in community. In terms of tech, machine learning and AI will continue to grow and become part of everyday business. We are happy that there are so many discussions about future, smart and sustainable cities going on, and hopefully, we will be able to educate those interested in the future of retail and commercial land utilisation and flexibility of leasing within a city.
What are the biggest challenges that the industry is facing at the moment?
The biggest challenge that our industry is facing currently is the consistent rise in retail rental prices and rates. We are tackling this major challenge head-on by creating brand new places to trade. The retail industry is in a state of flux – we are in the Amazon age and online shopping is BIG business. We still believe that physical retail is not dead – we just need to shake it up and show people how to be creative in their strategies. Physical and digital retail needs to be reinvented. There is a governmental / regulation education piece around this. We need to see a change in mindset regarding the opportunity for utilising space and collaborating. Trends are changing rapidly. They started in decades, decades were shortened to 7 years, during the dot-com bubble, and due to technology and social media, trends are now shifting from years to months. By keeping variety, landscapes remain fresh. We need to remove the cookie-cutter approach and become more creative in order for real estate to thrive.
