The Development of Location Decision Making Support System for Chinese Shopping Malls from the Developers’ Perspective

This study aims to explore the factors that determine the attractiveness of shopping mall locations for developers, from the perspective of those who want to select site to open shopping malls in China, and to evaluate the relative importance of these factors. Through a literature review, shopping mall location, store attractiveness in the shopping mall, fit between target market customers and prices, and shopping mall image were identified as the four components in shopping mall attractiveness. The measurement variables under these constructs were also identified: size of the population within the catchment area, proximity, anchor store, tenant mix, number of stores, the shopping mall size, products, properties, and visual presentation. The preference among the four competing shopping malls in Beijing was measured after identifying the relative importance between the criteria for the four constructs and nine measurement variables through pairwise comparison using the AHP of the five experts. The researchers applied this model to four shopping malls in Beijing. Through the AHP analysis, the researchers found that the relative importance of the variables was in the following descending order: store attractiveness > fit between target market customers and prices > shopping mall image > location. Using the results, the researchers can establish a Location Decision Making Support System for shopping mall in China.