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And the effort has gone beyond setting up huge parking areas to providing facilities for physically challenged. Malls today are offering a host of services, which range from shoe cleaning, to courier pick-up to laundry services. Some are free and some come at a price.
Take, for instance, the swanky Oberoi Mall. Situated in the tony suburb of Goregaon in Mumbai, it is planning to offer valet parking service, driver announcement facility, computerised tickets and electronic indicators to guide customers on the availability of parking. Not just this, the mall will also have one-of-its kind ‘drivers lounge', wherein drivers can relax and get refreshed. “The company has also planned an exclusive parking management service employing the CCTV surveillance system. It also proposes to place sensor-based footfall cameras to map conversions in the mall. This tamper-proof security system will assure high-quality security surveillance in the mall. Also, this mall will be equipped with high-end lighting control and music systems with integrated building management system,” said a spokesperson of Oberoi Mall.
To add to the distinctive features, Oberoi Mall also wants to be Mumbai’s first fully wi-fi mall, promising the shoppers a complete shopping and entertainment experience.
Inorbit, which has malls in Malad and Vashi in Mumbai, also offers a host of services like utility bill payment, ticket booking, house cleaning, car cleaning, laundry, babysitting and creche to establish consumer connect. All these facilities are available in the company’s newly established mall in Hyderabad. “The idea is to give maximum convenience to the consumers. When a customer walks into our malls, he should be able to have access to a number of utility services, which will give him a sense of comfort. This also helps in creating a good recall among consumers, apart from attracting foot falls,” said Kishore Bhatija. CEO of Inorbit Malls.
South City Mall, one of the most happening hangout places in Kolkata, has been doing lots of activities to increase footfalls right from day one. “However, let me make it absolutely clear that we don’t offer free services to attract footfalls. The whole idea is to offer shoppers and visitors a unique experience so that visitors love to come back,” Manmohan Bagree, vice-president (marketing and business development), South City Mall, told FC Estate.
South City Mall in fact has an in-house team of professionals to innovate, design and execute these programmes and keep changing them from time to time, Bagree said. And activities like these do have some positive impact on footfalls. South City Mall has an average footfall of 1.8 million per month. On the X-Mas day, the mall had a record footfall of 2.5 lakh and the average footfall over the X-Mas-New Year period was 1.5-1.7 lakh a day. Apart from a host of value-added services, doing something for the society is another mantra that is fast catching up with mall developers. This includes initiatives for kids, creating environmental awareness, free medical check-ups among others.
During the Ganesha festival, the management of Oberoi Mall stepped out to collect newspapers and unwanted papers from houses in the neighbourhood, which was recycled and used to create a unique Ganesh idol. The mall hosts a series of health check-ups for visitors from time to time. “Our eco-friendly Santa Claus last year was aimed to build awareness among our customers and to educate children on the importance of becoming environment friendly in an interesting way. This is in line with our social philosophy, where we want to take the scope of awareness to a higher level” the Oberoi Mall spokesperson said.
Inorbit Malls is also conducting a holistic community-building exercise called ‘Aikya’, conceptualised for the customers. The initiative was built to enhance society’s attachment towards essential community services and stay tuned with the social upbringing in this fast-paced world. The activity began from April 25, 2009 at both the properties – Malad and Vashi. Through this initiative, Inorbit organises socially relevant workshops on edutainment, life skills and healthy cooking with microwave ovens for two days once a month on weekends.
The mall also has initiatives targeted at school kids between class III and VI---Bodh. Bodh aims to be a learning, engaging and entertaining program where school children will go through an unforgettable mall trip, which has a single-minded aim – all ethics, etiquette and community living teachings that they are told to practise by elders are pretty much the same things that Inorbit as a mall follows for each and every one of its patron.
Again, South City Star Kid is a very popular programme to attract kids with their parents. In this programme, kids are asked to participate in painting, clay modelling and the like and then attractive prizes are given.
“A mall in today’s context is also a hang-out zone or a tourist attraction and in order to attract larger crowd, we organise events like magic shows, puppet shows and even horse riding within the mall premises. These are some of the missing elements in our lives. You don’t get to experience these in many places these days. We want to bring them back and offer our visitors the unique experience of getting entertained while shopping,” Bagree said.
Which brings us to the central question: Will bigger malls finish off the smaller malls? A case in point IS the once-bustling sector 18 market in Noida. Regarded as the hang-out zone for the those who preferred not to go to Connaught Place or Khan Market, it has seen shoppers making a beeline across the street. It has for its immediate neighbour the largest mall in town — The Great India Place (GIP).
Since the GIP opened shop, footfalls in the market have plummeted by 60 per cent (as estimated by the store owners). According to industry experts, the absence of an active market association, which has the ability and the organisation to offer perks, had led to this sudden slump. However, GIP offers many options to buyers.
Efforts are being made by individual stores to win back customers by resorting to rebates or increasing the product range. Most of the shops are seen flaunting ‘on sale’ boards more often.
Anand Goel, store manager of Cottons by Century, says that there has been a marked difference since the GIP’s advent, with a 40 per cent decrease in footfall. The moral of the tale is simple: It is not enough to build a fancy mall as they are springing up everywhere. What is required is chutzpah, which more and more mall owners now believe is the right step in the right direction.
To shore up sales, the company plans to step up its advertising and offer swipe cards by tying up with banks to let customers avail of discounts at restaurants, much like the loyalty bonus offered by the anchor stores in malls. Increasing the product range by introducing a women’s line is also on its radar.
Ditto in Chennai for both operational and under-construction malls. The Chennai Citi Centre offers valet car parking, prayer and namaz area and mobile-charging units while the Ampa Skywalk comes up with another set of super sops– wi-fi, cloak room, mother care area and automised express exit for cars. It is no surprise, therefore, that crowds are milling at these two malls.
With such examples as inspiration, it is natural for others to follow suit. Malls under construction in the city are all set to offer a variety of services to attract customers. The
Express Avenue has on display a travelator, green building features, lush landscaping with water bodies and seating areas. The Coromandel Plaza has its own picks: Wi Fi, car spa, wheel chair, drivers’ rest area and special park for physically challenged while the Chandra Mall promises to its customers an automated puzzle car parking, Wi Fi and cloak room.
“Malls are increasingly becoming an integral part of modern living. Customers spend a lot more time in malls not only for shopping but also for dining and entertainment. Mall developers are constantly upgrading the facilities and amenities in malls to provide a holistic experience for customer’s safety, comfort and convenience,” Sanjay Chugh of Skylines, a city-based property consultancy firm, told Financial Chronicle. All is fair when it comes to catching footfalls.
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