Mall management

Organized retail in India has undergone sea change in the post-liberalization era. Malls a trend

pioneered in the west is slowly catching up in the India. Scenario. There are many factors which

have spurred this development. The two more important factors are.

Severe dearth of organized retail.

The necessity to replicate the mall experience of shopping in countries other than India.

During the initial stages malls were providing the image bechmarks for communities. Then the

people moving to new. Suburbs started to view the emergence of malls in the vicinity of their

residence as very essential for improving the quality of their life and convenience this was

possible through the malls as they provided retail and entertainment in a controlled integral

environment.

In fact it can be said that it is the quality of life factors which has led to the emergence of the

mall culture in India. For instance, in Mumbai one of the largest real estate developers. C.L.

raheja group. Pioneered the mall scence with shoppers Stop chain of departmental stores.

Hiranandani ‘s’ is another example where they as a real estate developer run the hailko

supermarket’s and the loft, a shoe shop chain in Powai (Mumbai) This is in keeping with the

global trend where wal mart, the world’s largest retailer is also the largest real estate developer

as they own most of their stores across the world. This implies that a well integrated real estate

strategy forms a critical part of the wal mart’s success story.

The success of India’s first three malls namely, spacers plaza in Chennai, the Asnal plaza in

Delhi and the crossroads mall in Mumbai has given a boost to the mall market. Simultaneously.

Simultaneously, Indian consumers especially the cash rich middle class have changed the face of

retailing with malls becoming the norm for shopping in fact. It is said that organized retail

growth is at 35 percent compared to a 6 per cent growth of unorganized retail. On the basis of a

white paper prepared by KSA technical, India needs to create at least 110 million square foot of

additional retail space per year on the predication of a I sustained GDP growth rate of about 6

percent the following reasons can be attributed to the growth of malls in India.

A fast growing middle class with higher discretionary income.

It is estimated that the middle class of 300 million will increase to 250 million in 5 years.

The Indian economy is growing at 6.5percent per annum while the population is growing

at 1.9percent per annum.

There will be an increase in the number of double income households.

Focus on the youth as a target market.

Researchers reveal that consumer spending grew at a rate of 6 per cent per annum in the

last 10 years.

Influence of media and marketing communication resulting in changing aspirations.

Lifestyle orientation and change in consumer perceptions about shopping.

Ability of mall developers to make shopping an enjoyable experience through cost

effectiveness added convenience along with the fun element put in.

Organized retailers are working at adding value to consumers’ shopping experience through

malls which provide the right mix of shopping eating joints and entertainment. Thus, the end

result is a great and complete shopping experience for the entire family in an environment,

where there is variety and choice. Malls through value addition in terms of customer care

initiatives special offer. Events and promotions are able to add to the shopping customers’

delight.

IMPULSE BUYING AT MALLS

It is said with the rise of the mall format the incidence of impulse buying has also

increased among customers. Academicians define impulse buying as a form of consumer

behaviors characterized by buying goods which are not planned purchases. For example, one

may walk into a mall to buy a pair of high healed shoes and may come back with a dress,

matching handbag and other unnecessary accessories but without the high heeled shoes.

It is estimated that a major proportion of sales for malls is through the impulse purchases

account. In a study conducted by J. Jeffrey Inman of the U.W. Madison A.C. Nielson Centre

for marketing research and Russell S. Winter of the university of California at Berkeley, it

was found that unplanned purchases accounted for 68 percent of items bought during major

shopping trips and 54 per cent of smaller trips. The study involved studying the shopping

behaviors 4,200 consumer in 14 cities and taking into account 30,000purchase this study also

indicated that impulse purchase to a great extent depended upon the in-store display within a

store especially near the cash counter.

According to retailers, impulse buying does not occur in all product categories more often

than not impulse purchases get restricted to purchase of low priced products such as CDs.

Apparel. And cosmetics. But according to Kris lyer. CEO crossroads, the definition of

inexpensive may differ from person to person. Hence the products purchased on impulse may

also vary from one person another. He continues one person may consider a Rs. 5,000 watch

inexpensive and but buy it on impulse whereas, another person might consider a Rs. 500 CD

inexpensive and buy that according to mehul choke chairman gitanjali Group (parent

company for Gili and D’ damas) Impulse purchase of branded jewellery especially at malls

have been at prices ranging anywhere between Rs. 5,000 and Rs. 50,000. He adds that in the

past few years sales of diamond jewellery have increased from Rs.5000 core to Rs. 20,000

core. As much of Rs. 2,500 core of this increase can be attributed to impulse purchases.

Another example is of the arvindbrands which are available at mall as well as at

standalone. Stores.

This aspect is asserted by darshan mehra, CEO arvind Brands who says There is a

incidence of our product being picked up at mall as an impulse purchase.

Mall and brand management calls for employing various strategies to lure customers to

go for impulse purchase these strategies include.

Design malls with attractors or anchor tenants and interceptors. Attractors refer to

the large departmental stores or popular food chains, strategically located at the

four corners of the mall which draws a lot of footfalls, encourages windows

shopping and can result in impulse buying behaviors among consumers.

Use attractive visual merchandising make point of sale areas and service covers as

focal points, provide a high level of service showing concern for customers such

concerns will enable the customer to experience carefree shopping enjoy quick

and efficient customer service, home delivery gift wrapping services etc-all of

which can not only induces impulse buying but in the long run even translate into

brand loyalty.

Since impulse buying and unplanned purchase

Constitute a large part of sales at malls, many retailers are attempting at trying innovative

methods to increase the incidence of impulse buying. Moreover, many major brands are opting to

include malls in their distribution network to take advantage of impulse purchases. In the words

of mehul Choksi, chairman, gitanjali group, “malls have so many footfalls that there is a greater

chance that a shopper who has come to buy a perfume wanders over to a jewellery booth next

door and ends up buying some jewellery instead.” He also believes that since malls have major

brands, consumers feel confident that the products available at malls will be of high quality and

such consumer confidence facilitates impulse sales.

FACTORS OR PARAMETERS AFFECTING THE SUCCESS OF MALLS-

Malls are here to stay and with time, they will need to differentiate themselves and work

towards building long lasting relationships with customers, ensuring repeatability of visits and

purchases. Having a proper mall management system calls for looking into the following:

Manage customers more efficiently working out retention programmes.

Use information technology to develop the right information base on keeping a track of

where money is flowing, what is being sold (i.e. which merchandise and brand of goods

are selling fast ) etc. to work to wars creating a specialty mall. For instance, the wedding

mall at Gorgon.

Install a mall planning software to take care of planning and analysis of revenue to

provide and support proper management.

Retail space in a mall is much more than just a commodity because of its varied mix,

distinct identity and tenant mix. This differentiating factor providing value propositions

to the consumer can be achieved through proper mall management and the anchors in the

mall. For instance, the same mall is house for competitors like shoppers stop and

lifestyle.

Make shopping in a mall a pleasurable experience by providing tangible as well as

intangible benefits to customers. For example, the forum provides tangible and intangible

benefits to its parking space for vehicles, air-conditioning, seating, activities an in-house

promotions and continued service, assistance to consumers and maintenance of a good

tenant mix.

The success of a mall partly depends on the presence of other stores within the mall and

especially on the presence of the presence of the mall’ anchor stores. The agglomeration

of such stores helps consumers to reduce their search costs. Retailers across the globe

agree that consumers are attracted to malls because of the presence of well-known anchor

stores. Thus, a large number of footfalls can result in more sales-for the mall, while for

the customers it will be a holistic experience of shopping. Moreover, the anchor stores

not only help to generate mall traffic by increasing sales but can also help to reduce the

costs towards promotions and other overhead costs for a smaller store, customers are

attracted towards large stores with established reputations to purchase products. While,

the mall developers can bank on the long standing reputation of such stores and the

benefits it would create for them in the longstanding reputation of such stores and the

benefits it world create for them in the long run.

Malls need to provide the right mix of organized shopping stores (in terms of categories

and formats), food courts (w eating joints) and entertainment (games, movies etc.). the

retail space at the mall should be properly planned so that the end result will be a great

and complete shopping experience for the family in an environment, where ther is variety

and choice. The value addition’ provided at the mall must clearly be defined to include

customer care initiative, special offers, events and promotion-to and convenience along

with a fun element to the shopping experience.

SIEZE AND FEW WELL KNOWN MALLS

Will the proliferation of malls, for Indians shopping is no more a necessity, rather it is

viewed and entertaining experience for the entire family. Shopping includes food and

entertainment also. Moreover the Indian consumer has from being a loyal customer, has from

being a loyal customer, moved towards being a product consumer. With the retail revolution, the

consumer has been a witness to the changes in the retailing sector such as apparel, grocery, cars,

jewelers and soon.

As per the various media reports, it is estimated that a total of 220malls are expected to

come up across the country by the year 2006. Most of the malls would cater to the family

entertainment segment and have a multiplex, an anchor tenant, and independent retail outlets for

various products and a few restaurants. With so many malls coming up, each mall should strive

to be unique in some way or the other i.e.in tams of product facilities, ambience in order to have

not just the falls but also conversions. To attract customers, the malls must come up with their

unique selling point (or sp) which will speak for its exclusivity and specialization.

Large malls versus small malls

Malls, though an invention of the western countries as impacted india. Which is experiencing an

incessant change in the retail setting with the mall culture training acceptance among cultomers

Generally malls can be categorized into types.

The mega malls or the gen X malls

The smaller malls.

Property consultant Chesteron Meghraj has categorized the above mentioned two types of malls.

Defines Gen X malls occupying space more than 42,00,000sq ft is the size of an ideal

malls).these malls incorporate large entertainment area with though spaces for parking offer

infrastructure at purchase more economical rates per square feet and offer huge potential for

cross-pollination between the large retailer and mid-size retailers gen x malls are received to

becomes a destination’s point and would be the must visit list of visitors and an ideal place to

emigrate and socialize by consumers of all age groups.

As against the above, the smaller malls could fall in the category of the present malls occupying

an areas of 250,000sq. feet or less and cluster on the basis of category price and target consumers

but, with there rise of the Gen X malls the anchor of smaller malls might prefer to relocate due to

the predictable price advantages offered by the Gen X mall. But, according to Chesterton

meghraj, the ensuing gap left behind by the exit of the anchor stores. Will be taken up by a

retailer who fits in with the then existing retail; mix of the malls. However it is believered that

the pricing per square feet of the mall, after anchor stores. Exists will only marginally affect the

smaller malls. They will then cater to the requirements in the near adjoining areas with a focus

on providing services such as home deliveries which the big malls will be unable to provide.

Some of the strategies which could be adopted by the smaller malls to counter the impact of big

malls could be:

The smaller could go for a tie-up with other existing similar malls. To create a like

minded destination.

In order to avoid large empty spaces within the mall. Treated by previous occupants-the

gaps be filled up by other retailers immediately.

Try to identify an inherent Unique selling proposition (USP) which will differentiate

them from the bigger malls and create a favorable impression in the minds of the

customers.

However, in the long run, the success of the entire mall will depend on how the developer

maintained the mall over time in terms of remodeling and adding more facilities every few years.

Attracting the best stores, keeping the mall competitive with other malls in the area and so on.

Few popular malls-the first few malls have received a warm welcome be it in bang lore,

Mumbai, Delhi or the other place. This is especially true with Banglore, where the city’s youth

are found to spending more and more time in malls According to Raheja, Executive Director

shoppers’s stop the weather in the city would play a crucial role in the success of the malls,

especially when shopping indoors being viewed as an attractive prospect in the mansoons given

below are a synopsis of few of the popular malls at Banglore, Pune Nasik and Gurgaon.

The forum. The forum is a 6,50,000sq feet mall koramngala in Banglore It was launched on

February 15; and boasts of a 12-screen multiplex, a multicuisine food court bowling alleys and

parking for over 800 vehicle among others. The mall has attracted many leading brands such as

Westside proline pepe weekender arrow, trent Pizza Hut, café coffee Day, Kfc, Mcdonalds titan

Swarovski metro shoes reliance web world ATMs ect. The forum has a well balanced trade mix,

no internal competitions no discounting policy. Westside being the anchor stores. The other

stores include big bazaar obsue/c/ and is open from Monday to Sunday. The attractiveness of the

mall include its good location, lots of space, good parking facilities and with all the making of a

multi-activity centre, in the words of suresh singaravelu. CEO the forum the forum which is

6,50,000sq fit in area, containes 3,50,000sq, fit of retail and service space and 3,00,000sq, ft of

parking we are not selling space but selling a relationship Our uniqueness is reflected in every

aspect to one of course is parking we have lateral access to the mall from every parking level.

Usually lower floors are high premium areas due to their.

Eassay accessibility, so access from each parking level is great advantages secondly our tenant

mix has been strategically researched and planned for maximum impact and attraction. Also

since our layour replicates streets scene, there is great visibility for every tenent.

The forum had reported over-30-40,000 footfalls per day on weekends, within a month of its

launch.

Banglore central- Banglore cenfra/irom pantaloons is a multibrand seamless mall, ideally located

on the M.G. Road its’s size 1,20,000sq. ft space area and thus is spacious and ideal for shopping

with the family from the customer experience point of view it is a large and comfortable

department store. The food court at the mall is good and frequented by shoppers since it is a

multiband seamless mall, it is possible for shoppers to compare brands with ease. While they

shop. While for the store, it can reallocate space more easily on merchandise or brand

performance and customer feedback. It is said that Banglore centrals new format is providing to

be a success and saw at least 20,000 footfalls a day-just a few days after its launch according to

V. Muralidharan head, mall business banglore central-for our customer branded items are sold at

MRP and value addition from our side is the shopping confort.

Imperial Mall- Imperial Mall is a venture by Tata Housing it is ideally located-almost at Brigade

Road. In Banglore Some of the specific features of this mall are sound insulating glass-and see-

through escalators which is welcome, especially because of its interesting location.

Imperial Mall-Imperial mall is a venture by tata housing it is ideally located at brigade road. In

Banglore some of the specific feature of this mall are sound insulating glass-and see through

escalators which is welcome. Especially because of its interesting location.

Sigma hall-the Sigma hall is located on Cunningham Road. And will largely cater to north

Banglore inahabitans residing within a 5-7 km. radius. The mall has paid a great deal of attention

to the trade mix and space allocation some of well the known retailers to have housed in the mall

include pantaloons Indus league. Stori ruby Tuesday and royal sporting among others. The size

of the mall includes 1,53,000sq ft. planned xenon was also planning to have a 4-screen multiplex

at sigma.signed up

Gariula Mall- Garuda Mall, is an Indo-Pariuguese venture, located al the prime Magrath Road

Bangalore and is stated lo a multiaetivity centre and could easily be the biggest mall in the

central business district. It's size is estimated as '2,50,000 -;q f'l. with car parking facilities. A

host of international brands have reportedly signed up and Shoppers Stop\s likely to move in. H

is believed that around 10,000 sq. feet is reserved and in all probability a reputed hole! will be in

operation here. If managed well. Gam da Malt can easily give The Forum a run for its

money.Once Pune joined the bandwagon of mall development. Shoppers' Stop and Westside

were the anchors to set up their business in Pune, There are a few reasons which have

encouraged more malls to operate in Pune. These are:

1. The changing life styles of the people.

2. Increase in purchasing power.

3. Media and other communications resulting in exposure to the ambience and experience of

shopping in a mall.,

4. Proximity to the commercial capital (Mumbai).

5. Growing IT enabled services (ITES) in the city

Commercial complex house both commercial and retail spaces under one roof. The Zone as the

first mall to open in July 2004. This mall is spread over an area of 100,000 sq.ft. and has three

anchors. Big bazaar on the ground and first level one . health club with swimming pool on the

third level. The mall has been receiving an encouraging response with the daily average footfall

in the first month being close to 13,000.

Gold Souk Mall, Delhi: The gold souk mall in Delhi can be called a specialty mall, especially

for the purchase of jewellery and caters to the need s of the entire family across segments. In

order to match the current trend of making purchase of jewekkery shopping a pleasurable

experience, speciality malls such as Gold sock mall have been opened. Such malls are welcomed

by consumers because for them it well facilitate jewellery shopping with a wide variety of

jeweler brands available under one roof, offering them convenience and other facilities which

will ensure them a unique shopping experience.

Wedding Mall, Gurgaon: Today, retailers are able to read the market closely and come up with

uniqe mall concepts. The wedding mall’ at gurgaon is one such concept where a customer’s

every need related to organizing a wedding are available under a single roof.

Most of them retailers across the globe claim that it is the presence of well know anchor stores

which attract consumers to the mall. Thus, store at the mall stand to gain when there are a large

number of footfalls resulting in more sales, while, for customers it will help to enjoy a holistic

experience in shopping.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADANTAGES OF MALL:

Shopping malls have several advantage over alternative locations. First, because of the many

different types of stores, the merchandise assortments available within those stores, and the

opportunity to combine shopping with entertainment, shopping malls have becomes the main

street for today’s shoppers. Teenagers hang out and meet friends, older citizens in nikes get then-

exercise by walking the malls, and families make trip to the mall an inexpensive form of

entertainment (as long as they don’t buy anything). To enhance the total shopping experience,

many malls incorporate food and entertainment. The second advantage of location in a shopping

mall is that the mix can be planed. Shopping mall owner contr of the number of different types of

retailers so that customers can have a one stop shopping experience with a well-balanced

assortment of merchandise. For intense, it’s important to have several women’s clothing stores in

manager mall to draw in customers. Yet, too many such stores could jeopardize any one store

success. Mall managers also attempt to create a complementary tenant mix. They like to have all

store that appeal to certain target markets (such as all upscale specialty clothing stores) located

together. Thus , customers know what types of merchandise they can expect to find in a

particular mall or location within a mall. Managers also strive for a stores. A strong core of

shopping, goods stores, like shoe stores,brings people to the mall. Specialty stores, like computer

softwere store, also bring shoppers to the mall. While specialty store customers are in the mall,

they’ll Likely be attracted to another stores.

The third advantage of shopping malls is that the retailers and their customers don’t have to

worry about their external environment. The mall’s management takes care of maintenance of

common areas. Mall tenants can look forwards to a strong level of homogeneity with the other

stores. For instance, most major malls enforce uniform hours of operation. Maney malls even

control the external signage used for window display and sales. Since most shopping malls are

enclosed, customers are protected from the weather.

Although shopping centers are an excellent site option for many retailers. They have some

disadvantage. First, mall rents are higher than those of some stripe centers. Freestanding sites,

and maney central business districts. As a result, retailers that require large stores, such as home

improvement centers, typically seek other option . Second, some tenants may not like mall

managers’ control of their operations. Managers can, for instance, dictate store and window

display. Finally, competition within shopping centers can be intense. It may be hard for small

specialty stores. In the past few years, some shopping centers have had a particularly hard time

keeping their space rented.

CHALLENGES FACING BY MALLS: Shopping malls are facing several challenges. First,

there is increasing competition from other types of retail location alternatives, such as power and

lifestyle centers, catalog, and the internet. Second, many of today’s shopper are looking for value

alternatives to stores found in shopping malls. Also, the apparel business, which makes up a

large percentage of mall tenants, has counted to be weak, causing some specialty store chains to

close. Finally, getting old land are therefore less appealing to customers than they once were.

The result is lots of empty space in America’s shopping malls.

What are they doing about their problem? Some mall owners are truing their centers in to

traditional town squares with lost of entertainment opportunities. They believe if they can

encourage people to spend more money there. They owner are renting to nontraditional mall

tenants like dry cleaners, doctors’ officers, and even chapels-everything that you would have

found in a twon squar in the 1950s. Others are forging links to their communities by opening

wellness centers, libraries, city halls, and children’s play areas.

Some malls view their new role as a family entertainment center. For example, the center mall in

Indianapolis has no shops on the fourth floor. Instead, people can play virtual reality games like

throwing virtual grenades at their friends wearing space age wraparound goggles. If they don’t

want to play games, they can go to a movie, theme restaurant, or bar. But some industry

professionals warn that not enough thought is given to the costs and sometimes less desirable

impact of entertainment tenants some don’t consider, for instance, how existing customers and

tenants will be affected. Some entertainment formats after all, can be teen magnets, and these

sometimes do not coexist with older apparel customers, who have always been the industry’s

bread and butter. Careful attention also must be paid to where entertainment is pleased to make

sure I it helps, rather than hinder, existing tenants.

A more extreme approach to revitalizing a mall is known as demalling usually involves

demolishing a mall’s small shops, scrapping its common space and food, enlarging the sites once

occupied by department stores, and adding more entrances on to the parking lot. For example,

Anaheim plaza was one of the first enclosed malls in orange county, California, near Disneyland.

During the 1980s, it had lost most of its original glamour. Lets owner bulldozed most of the mall

and built in “its place s string of stores,, opening onto a parking lot. The new tenants include a

Wal-mart, comp USA, old navy, radio shack petco, and payless shoes.