"Malls in the Capital attract over ten million visits per month"

• "Three shopping centers in Bucharest account for half of all mall traffic"

Three shopping centers in sector one of the Capital have the highest traffic in Bucharest, the next sector in terms of presence in malls is sector six, says Georgian Drăghici, Sales Director of the indoor advertising company, Brand Management. According to him, in our country there is a very large gap between the traffic of commercial centers in Bucharest and that of other important cities of the country, because Romania lacks cities with populations of 500,000 - one million inhabitants. "By the end of the decade we will see a number of changes in the market, but this will also depend on how these cities will succeed in attracting new investment in shopping centers and how attractive they will be in attracting new residents and tourists" , says Georgian Drăghici.

Reporter: How is the traffic in the malls in Bucharest?

Georgian Drăghici: In the Capital, three shopping centers out of the existing twelve attract more than one million visits per month, and two of them are approaching two million visits, which means a total traffic of more than 4.8 million per month. Practically, these three malls accumulate 48% of the monthly traffic of all shopping centers in Bucharest.

The three malls that attract the most traffic, 161,000 potential shoppers per day, are in sector one. The second sector with the highest presence in malls is the sixth sector, with almost 2.5 million monthly visits (82,000 daily visits). In total, the share of the sixth sector is 25%. In third place is the third sector, whose malls accumulate 1.89 million monthly visits (63,000 visits per day). This sector covers 19% of all monthly traffic in shopping centers in Bucharest. The second sector attracts just over 1.2 million visitors or 41,000 day visitors to malls every month, which gives it a share of 13%. The available data on the traffic in the commercial centers of Bucharest covers five sectors, considering that there is no functional mall in the fifth sector. That's why sector four is in last place in this list of mall visits by sector, with almost 1.1 million visits per month (36,000 per day) and which has a share of 11% of the total.

Reporter: How did you get these stats?

Georgian Drăghici: To obtain this information, we used the Trafic5 indicator, and the data used are part of a report made by Brand Management and are obtained directly from the owners of the shopping centers with which we collaborate. For this reason, this data is largely confidential. However, the data is updated regularly and is useful for shopping centers that sell advertising space and retailers that buy indoor advertising. They are collected at regional level and can be correlated with other general statistical data issued including by the authorities.

Reporter: What other cities or malls are included in this indicator?

Georgian Drăghici: In compiling the Trafic 5 index, the company took into account only cities with a population of over 200,000 inhabitants. The first place is obviously Bucharest, which marks over ten million monthly visits to malls, but there is a problem: the very large gap between Bucharest and the following cities in the country. Romania lacks cities with populations of 500,000 - one million inhabitants. No other city comes close to 1.7 million inhabitants, the official figure for Bucharest's population. That is why it is impossible that, in the near and distant future, the Capital will be dethroned from this top. It is clear that at the level of cities of 200-250,000 inhabitants there will be movements in the near future, especially since various expansion projects of existing shopping centers are announced. Certainly, by the end of the decade we will see a number of market changes, but this will also depend on how these cities manage to attract new investment in shopping centers and how attractive they are in attracting new residents and tourists.

Reporter: What is the usefulness of the information provided by this indicator and what prompted you to create it?

Georgian Drăghici: The Brand Management company has been active on the Romanian market, but also abroad, for over 20 years, during which time we have accumulated huge amounts of data, statistics and indicators specific to the market we are active in - that of indoor advertising. With so much information amassed, we realized we could do more for our current and potential customers by providing them with information that would otherwise be nearly impossible for them to obtain elsewhere. This information is likely to create a clearer picture regarding the number of visits Romanians make to malls. Trafic5 is an extremely useful tool for marketers and companies interested in running indoor advertising campaigns. Our goal is to help them choose when and where to run indoor advertising campaigns so that their brand messages reach as many potential buyers as possible. Brand Management can provide with maximum accuracy data on traffic in malls, over any time intervals: days, months, years.

Reporter: Thank you!