Across the country, malls are changing retail landscapes and lifestyles. As marketers tell us, you don’t buy a product in a mall, you buy an experience. Combining shopping in air-conditioned comfort, entertainment, coffee bars, multiplexes, play areas for children, gaming and food courts, they have created a new breed: malls rats. They are also changing spending habits, consumption patterns and leisure time and laying the foundation for the organized retail industry to reach a projected Rs 1,00,000 crore from its current status as a Rs 35,000 crore industry. Thanks to the entertainment options available, mall crawling has become the favorite activity of well-heeled urbanites.
It hasn’t been all smooth sailing. Some malls have had to switch strategy, realizing that footfalls don’t necessarily translate into fortunes. Moreover, India is in an early stage of retail development. Organised retailing accounts for less than 5 percent of the market. High real-estate price mean that malls have to command heavy volumes or fat margins to break even. Yet, there is no denying that malls are taking over from traditional high streets as the places to shop-and also to be seen.
Malls are the new destination. In fact, the Great Indian Middle Class is now referred to as the Great Indian Mall Class.
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