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Opinion

Malls see rise in footfalls, sales

By Priyanka Dasgupta Brahma, Ritwik Mukherjee & Sreerupa Mitra May 09 2010 , Mumbai/Kolkata/ Bangalore Tags: Companies Its not just about building malls and leasing it to the retailers anymore. Developers across the country are seeing an increase in footfalls and sales due to the various consumer connect initiatives for both adults and kids. The increase in footfalls by manifold has indeed resulted in subsequent conversion. Kishore Bhatija, director and CEO of K Raheja promoted Inorbit Malls, feels that conversion would automatically happen the moment a mall becomes the centre of entertainment for the people. Inorbit has been running various activities like initiating morning walks, meditation camps for adults as well as several events for children. These kinds of events are ongoing for us. These are simultaneously happening at all the three malls at Malad and Vashi in Mumbai, and Hyderabad, which is seeing good footfalls though we have opened recently. The idea is to create customer loyalty, which is crucial at a time when so much competition is around Bhatija said. Inorbit has seen a strong growth in sales for its tenants which 10 per cent on a year on year basis as a result of this initiatives. In fact, organised retailing has changed the whole terms of concept in terms of consumer buying behaviour. The Indian consumer are changing rapidly and they now are showing inclinations for shopping malls which enable them to shop a variety of products under one roof and offer pleasurable experience of shopping in terms of ambience and entertainment, said a spokesperson of Kolkata-based South City Mall located at the heart of the city. South City Mall focuses on the behavioural change of target audiences by involving them with product, idea and concept with innovative events and promotions since the very first year of its inception. These activities do prompt the consumers to visit the mall again and again for experiencing the new. It also has resulted directly and indirectly in the increase of store sales. The mall has recorded an average jump of 27 to 32 per cent in sale figures of store sales compared to previous year the spokesperson said. According to B G Uday, MD of Garuda group, the promoters of Garuda Mall in Bangalore, the mall have been conducting such consumer connect initiatives ever since its inception 2005. "Garuda has always attracted serious shoppers and these initiatives are a small means to keep them attracted and entertained. Its true that the first half of 2009 was badly impacted due to the recession, but consumer memories are short lived and the shopping spirits that was dwindling at that period has now returned. For the months of January and February, we have seen a 15 per cent rise in sales as well as footfall over the corresponding period last year. March and April has been a little slow due to exam season and the IPL fever, but this is nothing new. We are hoping

that May onwards we will see a sizeable increase in both our sales and footfall numbers," Uday said. He also said though the sales have not gone back to the 2008 levels, the company is seeing a great traction this year and the latter half of the year looks very positive for the mall. RPG group promoted retail chain Spencers which is present at major malls all across the country, sees these initiatives as a definite means to gain visibility as well as footfalls. When a mall organises large-scale events, the footfalls do increase a lot. As a retailer, we also gain visibility because the consumer will take a look at all the stores at that particular mall. But we have not dont any proper analysis as to whether this generates conversion, said a Spencers spokesperson. On a store basis however, Spencers conducts a programme 'At Home with Spencers' to reach out to women, its core consumer base. For women, we conduct workshops on cookery, art-oflife, health and hygiene, interior designing, fashion and beauty. At Home is more about bringing the store to the customer, informing the customer what a store has to offer and hence lure them into the store to experience it in totality. Empirically, every such event subsequently sees a footfall enhancement of almost 10 per cent, the spokesperson says. V Muhammad Ali, head - mall operations, at Bangalore's Forum mall, thinks that it is not just a shopping mall but a community centre. So it has been our attempt to always offer customers more than just shopping options. Thus you will find us celebrating every possible festival in the mall. Also, we are conducting a summer camp for children this year and we also join hands with companies for various CSR activities, thereby introducing an element of surprise among the customers," he said. "Footfalls have always been there but these initiatives add value to sustain that footfall. Over the last three years we have seen 1.2 million people coming to the mall every month and we are hoping to sustain this in the coming years as well. As for sales, we have seen a 10 per cent y-o-y growth and this is not just due to the initiatives, though they have been a major contributor for our growth story," he added.
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