Posts
The state of two malls just outside the railway station in Navi Mumbai is indicative of the trend mall development in India is likely to witness. The first mall started years back and was the only shopping mall housing multitudes of brands inside it. It attracted thousands of footfalls as people thronged the destination to sample a taste of the new shopping experience. The going was smooth for the first mover till the time there was no competition. But competition soon came in, just a few hundred metres across the road. To its advantage, the second mall housed a multiplex which has become its biggest trump card to woo the audience. And within no time, the first mover has almost become a ghost town of sorts as both brands and customers have moved across the road to the new one.
The example indicates the scenario one will increasingly witness across India. The mall mania which has engulfed the country with as many as 400 malls estimated to come up, will definitely see a purge. Some will manage to survive the shakeout while some will bite the dust. Mall developers have simply forgotten the basic tenant of retailing that a catchment is needed for a mall to sustain. So simply building a mall just next to an existing one is unviable. Also the tenant mix has to be given due consideration depending on the demographics of the catchment. The formula of shopping-entertainment-eating out is the one that seems to be working. But the element of shopping while housing brands as tenants has to take into consideration the needs and requirement of the target audience and the benefit she will derive shopping in the format.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
In India the overall development of residential & commercial has no regulations. Anybody and everybody who has a plot of open land can construct whatever he feels is lucrative for him. In Navi-Mumbai, atleast there are some regulations on development of commercial facilities; apart from neighborhood stores, in residential areas but in Mumbai there is total “Jungle Raj.”
Few years back I used to stay in Andheri on Veera Desai Road. In a period of 2 years I have witnessed atleast five mall & multiplexes coming up within a distance of half a kilometer. Of course sustaining such a tough competition will be a challenge to all the malls. But for a minute, even if you consider that they can find out ways to stand firm and remain profitable. What about the resident of the locality? I can imagine the kind of problems they will face, coz I have gone through it. Tremendous traffic, sound / air pollution, and complete burden on infrastructure, is what they will have to face in their day to day life.
Looking at the current scenario, one wonders, who are these mall coming up for? And will they make life of locals easy or difficult?
There's bound to be a shakeout in the very near future.
In 2001 - 2002, I used to stay in Veera Desai Road during my routine monthly visits to Mumbai. I haven't visited the area after that...however, I find it difficult to believe that there are more than 5 malls and multiplexes in that short stretch. The residents must be having a terrible time.
Most of the mall owners have no clues about 'marketing'. Its a case of 'me too' jumping onto the bandwagon. These structures need to be positioned as 'destination points' with sufficient, I repeat sufficient open space to laze around.
Once the young and not too young lovers and couples get tired of walking all around the place, they will go for the pizzas, chais, icecreams.... That's what I term as market creation.
Do most of the mall owners care if the tenants earn their money or not? And when business starts falling, they waste no time in statements of self pity - 'market conditions are bad'.
Readers in Mumbai, B'lore, Hyd, NCR who have had the fortune of visiting City Centre in Salt Lake and the misfortune of visiting Emami Landmark on Lord Sinha Road, both in Kolkata will know what I wanted to convey.
- Deep Banerjee.
www.marketingpundit.com
Post a Comment