CITY Council’s Committee on Trade and Commerce chair Councilor George Goking said SM Malls in the city of Cagayan de Oro were now ready for the anticipated increase in people going to shop, dine and enjoy some leisure time during the holiday season.

SM CDO Malls even said they will extend mall hours to 11 pm on Dec. 16, 17, 18, 23, and 30.

“Preparations and adjustments have been put in place to ensure the safety and convenience of mall goers,” said Goking hoping that other establishments in the city will follow extending their business hour operations.

Meanwhile, Goking said malls in Cagayan de Oro will continue to flourish in the city despite the rise in e-commerce.

In a report made by the SM Store's Executive Vice President for Operations and Sales support Dhinno Tiu recently noted that brick-and-mortar spaces will continue to thrive and remain relevant among Filipino shoppers despite the growth of e-commerce.

Based on the research made by the global real estate firm Colliers that despite retail vacancy in Metro Manila reached 15.2 percent in the first quarter of 2022, which was up from 14.8 percent in the third quarter of 2021.

It expects that by the end of 2022, the vacancy will only reach 16 percent, lower than its previous projections of 17 percent.

The slight improvement is due to more brick-and-mortar retailers taking up physical mall spaces as consumer traffic reverts to pre-Covid-19 levels, the research said.

Also, it said, about 83 percent of respondents chose to shop in-store rather than online because they can physically feel the merchandise.

Meanwhile, Goking said that some consumers here in the city continue to prefer physical stores over e-commerce platforms.

He said that delivery and logistics issues as well as online security issues factor in as well.

This comes as in the period ending in August 2022, SM Investments Corp. reported that consumer traffic more than doubled year on year.

This has increased revenues where SM Retail posted P163.7 billion in the first half of 2022, up 18 percent year on year.

He added that retail spaces, particularly malls, are the "go-to community spaces" of Filipino consumers.

“With the adjusted mall hours, more time to shop and dine this holiday season,” said Goking.