A PROJECT ON

COMPETITION ANALYSIS OF MALL

INDUSTRY INFINITI MALL
Submitted to

University of Mumbai

in partial fulfillment of MMS degree

by:

NAME: Bhavik Boricha

Stream: Marketing

Class: MMS
Semester: III

Studying at:

Sheila Raheja School of Business Management &

Research
Kherwadi, opp. Colgate Ground, Bandra (East).

Academic Year: 2012-13

Declaration:

I, Bhavik Boricha, a student of MMS, Marketing, Semester III,

Roll no. 203, of the academic year 2012-13, studying at Sheila
Raheja School of Business Management and Research, hereby
declare that the work done on project entitled:
Competition Analysis of Mall Industry Infiniti Mall
is true and original and any reference used in the project is duly
acknowledged.

Date:
Student

Signature of
(Bhavik Boricha)

Certificate:

I, Prof. Sunil Chandwani, hereby certify that Mr. Bhavik

Boricha studying in class MMS, semester III, roll no. 203, academic
year 2012-13, at Sheila Raheja School of Business Management
and Research has completed project on competition analysis of
mall industry infiniti mall under my guidance.
To the best of my knowledge, information submitted in the
project is original and authentic.

__________________

_____________________

Signature of Director
of Project
(Dr. Vijay Wagh)
ordinator

___________________

Signature of Project Guide

(Prof. Sunil Chandwani)

Signature
Co-

(Rahul Tuli)

Acknowledgements:

First of all I would like to take this opportunity to thank the

University of Mumbai for having projects as a part of the MMS
program.

Many people have influenced the shape and contents of the

project, and supported me through it. I express my sincere
gratitude towards Prof. Sunil Chandwani for guiding me
throughout the project titled Competition Analysis of Mall
Industry Infiniti Mall which is an interesting and exhaustive
topic.

I would also like to thank our director Dr. Vijay Wagh without
whose immense support the project would have been not
completed.

Most importantly I would like to thank Mr. Gerald Matthews,

marketing head Infiniti Malls, Mr. Rahul Tuli and Mr. Swapnil who
have been an inspiration and a role model for this topic. Their
immense contribution towards the project had shaped the project
and even after having a busy schedule, they dedicated time and
energy towards the same.

Executive Summary:
Biren Somaiya, 38, senior advisor, JP Morgan Chase, regularly
hops into High Street Phoenix in Mumbais Lower Parel from his
nearby home at King's Circle to pick up "goodies". Somaiya never
has enough time but he can't give up on his mall sojourns.
Mallika Basu Garg, 32, senior HR manager with Avon, doesn't
have any malls near her Karol Bagh home in Delhi. So, she visits
Ansal Plaza and malls in NOIDA for buying higher-end apparel and
gadgets.
Kaushik Samanta, 34, head of environment, health and safety
with Biocon, visits Bangalore's Forum Mall every weekend to have
dinner either at the food court, "The Transit", or at the fine dining
joint Sahib Singh Sultan.
Raj Juneja, 38, a Gurgaon-based businessman, can be found at
any of his three favorite multiplex theatres based in malls on
Sundays catching the 3 p.m. show. He is always accompanied by
his wife and two daughters.

What do we understand from these examples? Shopping malls

have been gaining importance not only with reference to
shopping, but also they have been a part of the social life of many
people living around the metro cities of the country. Hence, it
becomes very important from the point of view of malls to
understand what makes people visit their mall again, what
motivates them to spend at a mall and where do they lag when it
comes to competing with the other malls in the vicinity.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Sr. No
1

Topic
INTRODUCTION

Mall Industry in India

Problem Statement

Objectives of the project

Hypothesis

Sampling Design

Research Design

First Malls in India

Major Malls in Mumbai

2

Page
No.

REASONS WHY MALLS FAIL

7 Deadly Sins

10
14
23

SWOT ANALYSIS OF INDIAN MALLS

25

THE EVALUATION

27

Demographics

27

Questions

35

RECOMMENDATIONS

52

LIMITATIONS

54

CONCLUSION

55

SAMPLE QUESTIONNAIRE

56

REFERENCES

59

Introduction:
Originally the first of the shopping malls was opened in Paris. Then the trend
followed in the other metros over the world, and there was a spree of
shopping malls coming up at various places. In this age of mass production
and mass consumption, the concept of shopping malls is most modern
method of attracting consumers. The concept of shopping was altered
completely with the emergence of these shopping malls.
In the current market scenario, both consumers and retailers have limited
choice in terms of mall shopping experience. As organised retail grows, we
expect the market to be more competitive by providing more choices to
consumers and retailers. At this point, developers will have to work harder to
create a differentiation for their product. We believe consumers and retailers
will be attracted to malls that are professionally managed, making effective
mall management a critical factor behind the success of a mall.
Shopping malls are an emerging trend in the global arena. The first thing
that comes in their mind about the shopping malls is that it is a big enclosed
building housing a variety of shops or products. According to historical
evidences shopping malls came into existence in the middle ages, though it
was not called so. The concept of departmental stores came up in the 19th
century with the Industrial Revolution.
Consumers wanted a better shopping experience and this demand gave rise
to the emergence of shopping malls in India. Originally the first of the
shopping malls was opened in Paris. Then the trend followed in the other
metros over the world, and there was a spree of shopping malls coming up
at various places. In this age of mass production and mass consumption, the
concept of shopping malls is most modern method of attracting consumers.
The concept of shopping was altered completely with the emergence of these
shopping malls. Shopping was no longer limited to a mere buying activity - it
has become synonymous with splurging time and money. People simply go
about roaming through the shopping mall in order to peep through the
window of the shop and often ending up buying something they like. The
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consumers desire a combination of comfort and suitability which the

shopping malls cater to, and so this format of shopping has become so
popular all over the world, and especially so in India. The inclusion of
amenities like restaurants, multiplexes, and car parks attract more and more
crowds to shopping malls that are considered family hangout zones.
The Indian retail industry has been divided into organized and unorganized
sectors. Organized retailing refers to trading activities undertaken by the
licensed retailers, that is, those who are registered for sales tax, income tax,
etc. These include the corporate backed hypermarkets and retail chains and
also include the privately owned large retail businesses. Unorganized retail
on the other hand refers to the traditional formats of low cost retailing, for
example, the local kirana stores, owned and managed general stores,
paan/beedi shops, convenience stores, handcarts and pavement vendors,
etc.
Mall Industry in India:
Indias retail sector is wearing new clothes with a three year compounded
annual growth rate of 46.64%, retail is the fastest growing sector in the
Indian economy. Traditional markets are making way for the new formats
such as department stores, hypermarkets, supermarkets and specialty
stores. Western-style malls have begun appearing in the metro and secondrung cities alike, introducing the Indian consumer to an unparallel shopping
experience.
The Indian retail sector is highly fragmented with 97% of its business run by
the unorganized retailers like the traditional family run stores and corner
stores. The organized retail, however, is at a very nascent stage though
attempts are being made to increase its proportion to 9-10% per year
bringing in huge opportunities for the prospective new players. The sector is
the highest source of employment after agriculture and has a deep
penetration into rural India generating more than 10% of Indias GDP.

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The Indian retail industry is the fifth largest in the world. Comprising of
organized and unorganized sectors, India retail industry is one of the fastest
growing industries in India, especially over the last few years. Though
initially, the retail industry in India was mostly unorganized, however with
the change of tastes and preferences of the consumers, the industry is
getting more popular these days and getting organized as well. With growing
market demand, the industry is expected to grow at a pace of 25-30%
annually. The India retail industry is expected to grow from ` 35,000 crore in
2004-05 to ` 109,000 crore by the year 2012.
In the Indian retailing industry, food is the most dominating sector and is
growing at a rate of 9% annually. The branded food industry is trying to
enter the India retail industry and convert Indian consumers to branded
food. Since at present 60% of the Indian grocery basket consists of nonbranded items.
It is expected that by 2016 modern retail industry in India will be worth US$
175- 200 billion. India retail industry is one of the fastest growing industries
with revenue expected in 2007 to amount US$ 320 billion and is increasing
at a rate of 5% yearly. A further increase of 7-8% is expected in the industry
of retail in India by growth in consumerism in urban areas, rising incomes,
and a steep rise in rural consumption. It has further been predicted that the
retailing industry in India will amount to US$ 21.5 billion by 2010 from the
current size of US$ 7.5 billion.
According to the 8th Annual Global Retail Development Index (GRDI) of AT
Kearney, India retail industry is the most promising emerging market for
investment. In 2007, the retail trade in India had a share of 8-10% in the
GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the country. In 2009, it rose to 12%. It is
also expected to reach 22% by 2010.
According to a report by Northbride Capita, the India retail industry is
expected to grow to US$ 700 billion by 2012. By the same time, the
organized sector will be 20% of the total market share. It can be mentioned
Page | 3

here that, the share of organized sector in 2007 was 7.5% of the total retail
market.
The reason why shopping malls are so popular lies in their international
appeal. It seems to be a thing of history when shopping malls had their
presence only in places like Singapore and Dubai. In fact, now they are
everywhere around us. If we dive back in time to the early Nineties, Ansal
Plaza appeared to be the only popular shopping mall of the region but
presently there are more than two dozens of well-established malls in the
region and another 140-odd new shopping arcades are set to dot the city
landscape in days to come.
People find these malls to be the best place to shop or hang out in summer
heat as they offer free entry to a completely air conditioned complex with
good music playing all around and loads of window shopping opportunity
which is appreciated by one and all. Not to forget the numerous food joints
that serve different cuisines meant to magnetize the taste buds of all the
foodies.
Though malls are equally popular among all ages, the true lovers of
multiplexes are the youngsters for whom malls are the `ultimate place to
be`. These malls serve their various purposes like shopping, watching
movies, dating or just to hang out though they really dont need a purpose
for being there. Malls are the coolest and safest place to go bunking, says
Raghav, a college student while the other boys and girls belonging to the
same age group have no different opinions. These malls have also come up
with different ways to cater to their target visitors like some of them have
discos where the Gen-X get a chance to chill-out during nights. Mohit says,
Opening of discos has added a new adventure and fun to my life. I can now
go and party in the night too.
These malls have changed the trends to an extent that the glam their that
could be seen only on the silver screen has now come to their cities and we
can actually see it in their neighborhood. Almost all the malls present in the
region can match any high-quality mall in any part of the world.
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Problem Statement:

Although being in one of the most promising areas, Infiniti mall was facing
the problem of low QFF (Quality Foot Falls), ie, people who are really the
target audience or the ones who can afford to buy stuff from Infiniti mall.
Hence we can state that the problem statement for this project is:
Increasing the quality foot falls at Infiniti malls without hindering
the quality and image that Infiniti malls have among the higher ends
of the society

Page | 5

Objectives of this project:

a) To measure the satisfaction or the dissatisfaction level of customers
visiting Infiniti mall
b) To come up with various competitive strategies that Infiniti mall can
use to compete with the competition and be the number one mall with
respect to customer satisfaction
c) To find out preference level of respondents regarding Infiniti mall as a
place to buy and visit as a place of shopping and/or entertainment.

Page | 6

Hypothesis:

Null hypothesis (H0): People visiting Infiniti Malls are satisfied with the
level of services that they are offered there
Alternate hypothesis (H1): People visiting Infiniti Malls are not satisfied
with the level of services that they are offered there

Null Hypothesis (H0): People are willing to visit Infiniti Malls with the
current offers they are providing
Alternate Hypothesis (H1): Services need to be changed to retain the
current consumers as well as pull the new ones at Infiniti Malls

Page | 7

Sampling Design:
Based on the information provided by the mall authority, there was a rough
idea about the number of people who visit Infiniti Mall as well as other malls
involved in the design. The sample size was determined to be 3% of the
total footfalls in the malls (the footfalls include quality as well as normal
footfalls which may and may not add value to the mall, quality footfall
making around 20% of the total footfalls, majorly in the weekends)

Research Design:
The major objective of the project was to increase the satisfaction level of
Infiniti Malls with respect to other malls in the vicinity. The data that which
was required to find out whether people are really satisfied with the services
provided by the mall was to be collected by the form of interviewing people
using a specially designed questionnaire that would enable us to know
whether people who have visited the mall are happy or not. In the next part
we will come across the secondary and primary data which will give us a
better understanding of the mall industry not only with respect to the malls
selected, but also the complete overview of the mall scenario and deep
research into the mall industry with the selected malls competing for the
footfalls in their malls.

Page | 8

First malls in India:

Spencer Plaza (Chennai, TN)
The first Shopping Mall in India is the Spencer Plaza (Chennai, TN), the
modern Mall started operations as early as 1991, when much bigger cities
like Mumbai and Delhi did not have a modern Mall.
The name comes from an old Chennai Landmark, the Spencer Store, which
was razed to the ground (in a fire accident) after about 150 years of
operating in a location on Mount Road.
The Plaza was opened for business in 1991, and it was named after the
Spencer book store.
Emporio, Delhi:
Built by real estate giant DLF Group, the stand-alone luxury-shopping
destination, called Emporio, will encompass close to 90 Indian and
international luxury brand stores. Luxury buffs will be able to pick up fashion
accessories, jewellery and lifestyle products of their choice.
"DLF Group is coming up with the first luxury mall in India. It is called
Emporio and will be ready by the end of this year," said Kajal Aijaz, CEO and
director of DT cinemas, DLF Group.
Fashion house Kimaya, Ensemble and top fashion designers like Ashish Soni,
Rajesh Pratap Singh, Abraham Thakore are some who will mark their
presence in the mall.
"The mall is coming up in the plush south Delhi neighbourhood of Vasant
Kunj. It has ftheir floors along with surface and basement parking, spanning
an area of 300,000 sq ft," added Aijaz, who refused to divulge any more
details.
And India's financial capital Mumbai will follow suit with the Hirani Group
constructing a nine-storey luxury mall. "Mumbai will get a high-end shopping
Page | 9

destination. Straddling over an area of 40,000 sq ft, it will have nine floors
and two levels of basement parking," said Pradeep Hirani, chairman of the
Hirani Group. "This vertical high street will also have recreational lounges to
offer a memorable shopping experience to customers," he added.
Apart from fashion house Kimaya, the shopping tower will display collections
of almost a dozen international luxury brands like Maxmara and fashion
designers like Melinda Looi and Pam Mehta. "Everything will be available
under one roof. There will be a range of couture, accessories and lifestyle
products designed by Italian and French style gurus among other
international designers," Hirani said.
Depending on the response of customers, the company plans to come up
with two or three similar high-end shopping destinations in other metros as
well.
Major Malls in Mumbai:
Phoenix Mall, Lower Parel:
High Street Phoenix, (HSP) the first consumption centre developed in India,
covers 3.3 million square feet of space and houses over 500 brands , variety
of F&B, entertainment, commercial and residential complexes. Pioneered by
The Phoenix Mills Co.Ltd. and led by young Managing Director, Atul Ruia and
his team of professionals. At HSP, each zone has been specifically designed
and been put together in keeping with international experience and an
answer to emerging urban agglomerations typically defined as 'mixed used
developments.
R-City Mall, Ghatkopar:
The newest and most diverse shopping destination in Mumbai, this 12 lakh
square feet mammoth shopping centre is one-of-its-kind with a multi-level
retail galleria that balances a steady mix of the finest local brands and topnotch international brands. The sprawling multilevel parking, five-level
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atrium and first-of-its-kind nine-screen multiplex will provide the most

vibrant experience to shopping enthusiasts from all walks of life.
R City is destined to become Mumbai's leading entertainment and lifestyle
destination that will raise the bar in providing an outstanding experience in
Mumbai, where living, working, playing, shopping combine to form a city life
of epic proportions.
R City constantly strives to deliver an experience beyond imagination and
promises to showcase the latest and best of fashion, entertainment and fun
with a host of magnificent features and outstanding facilities.
Inorbit mall, Malad:
Inorbit Malls began its journey by opening its first mall at Malad to the public
in early 2004, in Mumbai. Since then Inorbit has repeated its success with
world class malls in Vashi, Cyberabad and Pune. The malls have universal
class and appeal and seeks to provide a one-stop destination for fashion,
lifestyle, food, and entertainment leading to an international experience for
families. Inorbit is all set to further the unique experience nationwide by
expanding its footprint soon to Whitefield in Bengaluru & Vadodara.
Inorbit Malls, committed to setting benchmarks in retailing in India, provides
an excellent walk through experience for customers. Inorbit Malls combine
the knowledge of the Indian Consumer and a changing Indian market
scenario in locating, designing, planning and managing retail environments.

Oberoi mall, Goregaon:

Oberoi Mall is entering its 3rd summer and has occupied a significant
position in the minds of customers and retailers.
By reflecting and enabling customers lifestyles and delivering affordable
luxury with a philosophy of customer first, the Mall has distinguished itself
as something truly special on the retail landscape.
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Pioneered by the real estate development company, Oberoi Realty Ltd.

(popularly as Oberoi Constructions) Oberoi Mall has found a unique niche
amongst quality conscious and discerning customers. Clearly recognizing
that the customer is paramount, all their actions and strategies are directed
towards providing a wholesome experience to those visiting the mall.
Competition in the mall industry:
Retailers today face many challenges, including increasing competitive
pressures, thin margins, high occupancy costs and unpredictable supply base
that come in the way of their attaining operational efficiency and profitability.
As organized retail grows, the market will only become more competitive
and developers will have to work hard to differentiate. Faulty mall
management along with inappropriate tenant mix would lead to poor mall
traffic and closure of individual stores in malls. Professional third party mall
management service providers are hence likely to come to the fore. They not
only understand these business challenges, but also have the ability to help
retailers effectively deal with them.
The partial foreign direct investment (FDI) relaxation in 2006 allowed 51%
ownership in joint ventures by single-brand companies in the retail market.
This triggered high international single brand retailer interest in the Indian
retail market. Additionally, large Indian conglomerates such as Reliance
Industries and Aditya Birla Group are commencing their foray into retailing
across the country. This prompts the Indian retail industry to undoubtedly
move on a high growth curve. However, at this juncture, retailing is still
faced with one major challenge: systematic mall management. Currently,
there are very few designated mall management companies in India.
However, big retail chains such as Future Group and some large developers
have set up their own mall management divisions that operate as their
subsidiary companies.
Some developers such as DLF have also recently entered into contractual
arrangements with international property consultancy firms to manage their
malls. Historically, developers were managing their malls in-house, which is
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expected to change going forward. Earlier in the decade, mall developers

were more inclined towards exiting the project early by selling retail mall
units to investors at the pre-completion and post-completion stages and
booked profits. As the ownership of individual retail spaces were with
different entities, there was no central authority managing the malls. There
was no control over the various facets of mall management mentioned
earlier in the paper. Even though there have been some examples of
professionally managed malls in recent years, organised retail in Indian
malls have a long way to go to achieve optimum mall management.

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Reasons why Malls fail:

Focus on the basics to revive a mall, such as keeping things clean.
If a tile is broken, we fix it immediately. - Jonathan Yach, CEO of
Propcare
Many malls neglected even simple research and common sense
steps that would drive footfalls. - Kabir Lumba, MD, Lifestyle
An ineffable air of desolation and despair hangs over the Star City Mall,
situated on one corner of east Delhis Mayur Vihar Phase 1 (a
commercial/residential area in East Delhi). Over three quarters of the retail
space inside is an empty glass-fronted shell, waiting forlornly for tenants.
And by the looks of it, the wait has been on for a long, long time now. Few
customers ever walk into the mall and those who do dont stay for long. A
couple of liquor shops and a Caf Coffee Day outlet draw much of the
miniscule clientele that the mall can boast about. But these are transient
visitors who dont linger. At Star City Mall, there is really nothing that the
mall offers in terms of shopping or entertainment options that will make a
customer walk in and spend any time no anchor department stores, no
big brands, no theatres, no specialty shops, no electronic shopping zones, no
playing areas for children, and not even a proper food court. There are a few
eating joints and restaurants scattered on the ground floor. But these do not
look as if they have ever been stretched by having to serve too many
customers. A short walk away from Star City is the DLF Galleria another
shell of a mall, sporting the same air of pathos as its neighbor.
Almost 90 percent of its retail space is unoccupied. And yet, when Star City
was being built, most analysts would have bet on it being a success. Its
location is excellent Mayur Vihar is a middle-income colony full of
successful professionals who are ideal customers of many malls in Delhi and
Noida. More importantly, by virtue of being right on the Delhi-Noida link
road, and with a metro rail station adjacent to it, the mall was ideally
positioned to attract traffic from both east Delhi colonies adjoining Mayur
Vihar and the nearby suburb of Noida. The Star City Mall also opened with
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Reliance Retail as its anchor tenant three-and-a-half years ago, and that
should have helped it attract other tenants. Yet, within months of its official
opening, the footfalls had started falling and the decline in customer traffic
had begun. After almost three years of its tenancy, Reliance Retail
abandoned its space, which accelerated the malls demise. What went wrong
with Star City? The malls developers were unavailable for comment, but
Reliance Retail officials say that there were many inherent problems. One of
the biggest issues was that the mall was not and is still not actively
managed. After building Star City, the developers sold off shop spaces to
individual investors. Many of these investors were not interested in
improving the mall; they were only looking to rent out the spaces they had
bought. There was no mall management company or in-house operations
team that would get the tenant mix right and improve the overall well-being
of the mall. That was why it was just a disparate collection of shops with no
specific zones for entertainment, food, apparel, or electronics. It also lacked
a theater which may have been able to pull people in to see movies and then
stay and shop. Even though Reliance Retail was the anchor tenant, shoppers
had no reason to stay in the mall once they had finished with that store.
The Star City Mall is not an exception in Indias booming mall landscape.
Analysts at Crisil, Third Eyesight, Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) India, and Ernst &
Young say 80 percent of Indias 255 malls are failing, and half of them are in
dire straits. Look at Mumbai, Delhi or any other big city and you will find
plenty of malls which are half empty. In Mumbai alone, the list is long the
Centre One Mall in Vashi, is 30 percent vacant, the Kohinoor Mall in Kurla is
70 percent vacant, and the Dreams Mall in Bhandup is 75 percent vacant
to name only the more prominent examples. This is not to say that the mall
culture itself is failing there are many successful malls in Delhi, Mumbai
and the other metro areas. But the issue is that the greater majority of the
malls built are either pulling in indifferent business or worse, just fading
away to oblivion. In some cases, malls are desperately turning empty shop
spaces into banquet halls in order to survive. The issue, says Devangshu
Dutta, CEO of Third Eyesight, a retail consultancy, is that few malls in India
are real malls that are planned and executed in the manner a mall should
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be. Unless the builders view retail as a long term business, the quality of
malls will not improve. Only 5 to 6 percent of the malls in India are real
malls, says Dutta. The rest, he says, will either disappear or turn into
mixed-use properties with offices to support their survival. Kabir Lumba,
managing director of Lifestyle India, which is the anchor tenant in many of
the successful malls around the country, agrees with Dutta. Lumba says
many malls neglected even basic research and common sense steps that
would drive customer traffic and as a result, they are now in trouble. In
some cases, the mall owners have realized the problem and they have
brought in expert help professional mall managers and mall management
companies to revive the malls.
But not all malls can be rescued. While some can be turned around by
changing some elements of layouts, or the tenant mix, or the business
model, others cannot be fixed without drastic surgery. In at least one case in
Pune, a mall has been shut down for drastic interior and exterior
renovations. In another case in Bangalore, the access road to the
underground parking is so badly designed, says one analyst, that customers
are simply not coming in. This is despite the fact that the mall has a good
tenant mix and other customer- grabbing attractions. So far, reports suggest
that about $4.2 billion has been sunk into building 255-odd malls, of which
about 65 percent are in Delhi/NCR and Mumbai. Over the next two years,
another 242 malls will open up, entailing massive investments for these
projects. These malls will add 96 million sq. ft of retail space to the already
existing 72 million sq. ft. And unless they get their act together and avoid
the mistakes made by many of the earlier mall developers, they will only end
up sinking enormous amounts of money into unproductive endeavors, which
is why it is so important to realize what is going wrong with the vast
majority of Indian malls. Further, its paramount to have the know-how, in
order to be able to open and operate a successful mall.
How It All Started:The mall story and the basic mistakes started in
India in 1999, when Delhis 200,000-sq. ft Ansal Plaza and Mumbais
150,000-sq. ft Crossroads Mall opened to shoppers. Both attracted
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enormous footfalls in the initial days. But within months, the basic problem
with both the malls had become apparent. Crossroads Mall had a great
location it was at Tardeo in south Mumbai. It was built by the Piramals
and the anchor tenant was their own departmental store, Pyramid. The
novelty factor of being the first shopping mall in Mumbai also made it an
instant hit. But, according to Sushil Dungarwal who bears the title of Chief
Mall Mechanic in the Mumbai-based mall management firm, Beyond Square
Feet Crossroads was badly designed and not particularly retailfriendly. It
also had a parking problem which become apparent once crowds began
flocking to the mall, he adds. The Piramals did not want to talk about
Crossroads when they were contacted. A former tenant says there were
other problems as well. For one, because the Piramals were focused solely
on Pyramid, they did not pay much attention to the other shops and tenants
of the mall. Pyramid was situated right at the front of the mall, and the
design of the mall made the tenants and shops further back fairly
unnoticeable. As a result, people often came in, shopped at Pyramid, and
walked out without really exploring the rest of the mall. And this hindered
tenant morale. This, in turn, led to a sharp rise in tenant turnover that was
perplexing to customers; the problem was that even when customers
ventured into the mall, they faced uncertainty as to whether the shop they
went into once would still be there the next time they came around. As the
mall learned, confusing customers comes at a price: a loss of customer
loyalty. As more malls started cropping up in other parts of Mumbai,
shoppers slowly started drifting away to competitors. In 2004, a betterdesigned mall by the Ruias called High Street Phoenix opened its doors at
Lower Parel and in 2006, the Rahejas opened Inorbit at Malad. It was then
that Crossroads had to close its doors. Recently, it reopened after the Biyanis
took over, renamed it, and completely revamped it (well come to this rescue
story later). Meanwhile, the old Crossroads, now the Ansal Plaza, also made
many of the same mistakes. One was its architecture. It had twin semi
circular buildings, and the only way a shopper could move from one to the
other was to either exit the original building on the ground floor, or locate a
walkway on the second floor which connected the two buildings. Not a very
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convenient design, to say the least. To be fair, say analysts today, Ansal was
not to be blamed for the design problem. It was building its mall based on
the design suggestion of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), and that
was somewhat hampering. Again, when it was the only mall in town, its
developers didnt have to worry about a lack of shoppers. The novelty alone
pulled in enough crowds. But as newer malls opened especially within a
short driving distance of Ansal Plaza the crowds began to thin. However,
though Ansal Plaza today is a pale shadow of its original glory, it still has
some advantages that keep it afloat. It has Shoppers Stop (Indias leading
department store chain) and McDonalds as its anchor tenants, along with a
massive music store. Being close to two large womens colleges has made it
a popular hangout for college students. Also, it has developed a party zone
for children, which is apparently quite a trendy spot for holding birthday
parties. According to one source, the Shoppers Stop outlet in Ansal Plaza
alone does business worth approximately $8.5 million a year. But still, much
of its past visitors have chosen to take their business to the malls in nearby
Saket the Select City Walk and the DLF Place, which are better designed,
better thought out, and have an overall better tenant mix. Many of the first
generation malls built by developers had massive problems, say analysts,
mall management companies, and even big tenants. The problem was that
once builders and developers saw people thronging the first few malls,
everyone suddenly wanted to build malls. Many of these people did not have
the faintest idea about how to build and run a proper mall many of them
saw it as just putting together a big enough air conditioned building, and
then slicing it into shops and selling them off.
The thinking back then was that we have built a mall and people will come
and shop here, says Pankaj Renjhen, managing director of retail practice at
property consultancy JLL. Lumba of Lifestyle says that one of the builders of
an early mall insisted on dictating terms to Lifestyle simply because he
thought that the retailer would do anything to have a presence in his mall.
We did not close the deal because the design was bad and the property
has faded today because better malls have come up, says Lumba. Some
builders confused malls with shopping centers. Others converted commercial
Page | 18

projects into malls, simply because they wanted to keep up with the Ansals
and the Rahejas. Of course, they did so without thinking about the long
term future of these malls. Many of the first generation malls were simply
shopping complexes without proper designs, parking lots, entertainment
zones or proper mall management, says Shashikala Venkatraman,
managing director of Sq.Ft Consulting, a mall development and retail
advisory company. Also, the early mall developers did not think of
competition or catchment areas while slapping together the buildings. As a
result, there are plenty of malls in poor locations, or with bad entry and exit
roads. And there are also stretches particularly in Gurgaon where there
are so many malls next to each other that there arent enough customers for
them all. This is why, while one mall in the lot succeeds, all the others are
just trying to stay afloat. The problem is, 170 malls of the total 255 in
existence today are in Mumbai and Delhi. This has led to enormous
competition.
But perhaps the biggest sin was that too many mall builders thought small.
They built malls that would look like pygmies when the mega malls opened
up in their vicinity. To elaborate, Noidas Sab Mall, Spice Mall, Centrestage
Mall, and Pacific Mall in Ghaziabad were all big malls when they opened. But
the next generation of malls the Ambience Mall of Gurgaon, the Great
India Place in Noida or the Shipra Mall at Indirapuram in Ghaziabad, for
example dwarfed these early malls. Ten years ago, the average size of a
mall was 250,000 sq. ft. Now it is 1 million sq. ft. Bangalores Mantri Square
Mall, which is 1.2 million sq. ft, was one such example that took business
away from many smaller malls such as the 400,000 sq. ft Gopalan Mall and
the 250,000 sq. ft Eva Mall. The customers of the latter malls left because
Mantri Square Mall offered them more and better choices, alongside better
parking. Overall, this mall had a pure play retail strategy and it worked.
Similarly in Chennais popular 800,000 sq. ft mall, Express Avenue, took
away all business from City Centre Mall, a mere 500,000 sq. ft mall, because
of its size, number of brands, and quality of service. In Mumbai, on the other
hand, the average mall size doubled from 200,000 sq. ft in the early 2000s
to 400,000 sq. ft. To further explain the variances in the sizes of Indias early
Page | 19

malls, Huma Mall, in Kanjurmarg, is 120,000 sq. ft, and Kohinoor City Mall,
in Kurla, is 250,000 sq. ft. Then there are the larger malls: Malads Infinity 2
(800,000 sq. ft) and Inorbit (400,000 sq. ft). Although these first generation
malls still get enough customers, they have also been replaced as Indias
favorite shopping destinations by the bigger malls that sprung up later. The
issue is simply the overall shopping experience and variety of options being
promised. The smaller malls fall behind in the number of retailers, anchor
tenants or size of food courts they can offer the average shopper. Take, for
example, Centrestage Mall in Noida. It offers Westside as the big department
store.
Bang opposite is the Great India Place Mall, which offers Lifestyle,
Pantaloons, Shoppers Stop, Marks & Spencers, and Globus (all hugely
popular apparel chains). Take any category and Great India Place offers
many more options than Centrestage simply because of the different scales
in which the two malls were built. Apart from scale, the other big problem
was the business model adopted by the early developers. In most cases, the
strata selling concept was the favorite of developers, says Sq.Fts
Venkatraman in Mumbai. Strata selling involves the selling of individual
shops and spaces in the mall to different investors, who then can choose to
either set up a shop there or rent it out to other tenants. The great
attraction of this method for most mall builders was that it allowed them to
recover their investment quickly and go on to build another mall with the
money. The problem with this method was that it meant that there was often
no cohesion or theme in the shops standing next to each other. So a luxury
brand would stand next to a mass market brand which is a no-no, say
mall management experts. Similarly, there was little incentive in running a
mall properly, keeping the facilities clean and maintaining them, or in
weeding out bad tenants while attracting good ones. With multiple owners,
there was no central agency to coordinate the running of the mall or think up
new attractions to pull in new customers.
The Citi Mall in Lokhandwala in Mumbai is a classic example of the pitfalls of
strata selling. It has so many owners that even fixing the mall and reviving it
Page | 20

has become an impossible task because none of the investors can agree on
what should be done, says Shubhranshu Pani, managing director (retail
services) at JLL India. Single management is very critical while planning a
mall. This allows the builder to manage things on his or her own without
conflict of interest, points out Venkatraman. Even where the mall developer
did not sell off slices of the mall, the biggest mistake was often chasing the
highest rents and not thinking too hard about the shopping experience being
offered per se. DLF is candid about the fact that it has made mistakes. Our
earlier business model was to give space to retailers on a first-comefirstserved basis and also to give preference to those willing to give higher
rentals. This obviously did not work, says Pushpa Bector, senior vicepresident and mall head at DLF Promenade. Since then, DLF has invested
significant time in thinking of how to better position malls, creating the right
tenant mix, and various other issues. We have realized that mall
management is a long-term business, says Bector. It was in 2008-09, after
the financial shock that rocked the sector that many developers began
adopting the revenue-share model with their tenants. This gave an incentive
to the developers and mall managers to have a long term perspective and to
do everything they could to help their tenants prosper.
The new malls being built are much better thought out than many of the
older malls, say analysts. This in turn increases their chances of success. It
is relatively easy toavoid mistakes if you have already learnt from the
disasters of earlier malls. Take for example, Kishore Bhatija, CEO of Inorbit
Mall, who got into the business in 2004. Bhatija was careful to study the
mistakes of others while planning his own mall and he made a proper survey
of the catchment and design parameters that make or break a mall. As a
result, his 550,000 sq. ft mall is one of the more successful examples in
Mumbai. It has the right scale and it has five anchor tenants Shoppers
Stop, Lifestyle, Spencers, Fame, and Time Zone. We looked at all aspects
design, lighting, parking and retail mix. We did a check for the size of
individual stores. Too big would have been difficult to manage. Too small
would not have offered enough variety, says Bhatija. He spent a lot of time
thinking about which brands would add value to his mall. And he constantly
Page | 21

monitors their sales and performance replacing the weaker brands with
stronger ones. Bhatija swears by what he calls easy circulation. According
to him, the good circulation design allows shoppers to move around easily
and freely. Bad circulation makes them lose interest quickly. He also has
started the rather novel initiative mall walk which entails throwing
open the mall at 6 a.m. and attracting people to do their morning walk
within the mall itself. This allows visitors to see and check out the brands
without crowds and pressure, he says. While building a new mall and making
sure it is properly positioned and gets the design, tenant mix, and
management right is the way forward, the moot question is: what does one
do with the older generation of malls that have made quite a few mistakes?
There are some problems that cannot be solved, say analysts. For example,
scale cannot be changed even if the tenant mix can be fixed. Similarly, bad
design can be rectified only to an extent. If it is merely a matter of breaking
down a few walls to create a better circulation or layout inside the mall, its
no big deal, but if the basic architecture or the parking lot is flawed, its
nearly impossible to sort out. Still, there are plenty of older malls that can
be improved and revived. Kishore Biyani, for example, reportedly paid $66
million to take over Crossroads from the Piramals. He renamed it Sobo
Central and spent a lot of money on improvements another $19 million,
according to sources to completely change the internal layout. The
external structure or shell remained the same but everything was changed
inside to offer easier access and an overall better shopping experience to
visitors. He also brought in good restaurants and fast-food outlets to get the
right mix of food and shopping into the mall. Today, Sobo Central is a mall
that is doing quite well. There are other malls, too, which mall management
consultants are trying to revive. In Mumbai, for example, JLL is trying to
revive Citi Mall. DLF has succeeded in turning around many of its own malls
which werent doing too well in the past. The big factor was of course
shifting to the revenue-share model which Arindam Kumar, vice-president
(mall management) of DLF, says, makes us work harder. He admits
candidly that DLF Place in Delhi was greatly struggling due to poor tenant
mix, improper zoning and lack of an actual theme. But they turned around
Page | 22

the property by zoning the 500,000 sq. ft mall. Zoning essentially meant
creating specific areas a kids area, a family area, and a ground floor
focused on youth and apparel retailers. They also got serious about food
from creating food courts for people in a hurry to specialty restaurants for
people who wanted to spend more time enjoying their lunch or dinner.
Having at least one high-end anchor on each floor and an electronics area
were other key aspects in improving the malls draw. One mall management
expert says that small things work in planning layout. For instance, having
electronic shops next to shops selling womens apparels is a great idea
because it allows bored husbands to not only kill time but browse for their
gadgets, while their wives are trying on clothes in nearby shops. But despite
best efforts, there are plenty of old malls that have been badly designed and
are destined to join the junkyard of failed malls. One only needs to walk past
malls turning themselves into business centers and banquet halls to realize
which ones have succumbed to Indias cutthroat shopping center industry.
7 deadly sins that malls make that kill a mall:

Bad location: There simply isnt enough traffic or it is lower grade

traffic. Or worse, it is quite difficult to access it compared to other
malls
Bad architecture: The mall is too badly designed. And stores are not
well structured to catch attention.
No multiplex: Mall which does not have a multiplex does not attract
crowd. This means other malls having a good multiplex gets all the
footfalls.
Poorly designed foodcourt: Its a great sin not to have a proper
food court. They prevent shopping going out of the mall in search of
food.
Bad shopping mix: Malls that have too much of one type of shops
(for example, clothes) but not enough of others (shoes, electronics,
books or music).
Scale problem: A mall that is too small compared to a gigantic mall in
its vicinity is doomed to fail. This has happened to too many malls.
Page | 23

Anchor tenant: This cardinal sin has undone many malls. Another
mistake is having the wrong anchor tenant with a reputation for bad
customer service, which is enough to drive customers away.

Page | 24

SWOT Analysis of the Indian Malls:

STRENGTH

Skyscrapers with perfect blend of shopping, eating and entertainment,

in short shoppertainment
Developed in contemporary style, these flashy malls promises just
about everything under the sun, from foreign gizmos to the very desi
brands.
Attractive destinations for civic and official meetings, hang out,
reducing stress.
Procure goods directly from factories and farmers in case of lifestyle
and food/beverages respectively.
Bouquet of value propositions like value for time, value for quality,
value for experience, value for money.
High quality shopping environment + quality assortment at variant
shopping format.
On an average a super market stocks up to 5000 SKU's against a few
hundred stocked with an average unorganized retailer.

WEAKNESS

Mall developers are enacting as mall managers

Retail not accredited as an industry in India
Complicated taxation system
Lack of adequate infrastructure including supply chain, parking
facilities
Unavailability and skyrocketing prices of prime catchments areas
Poor positioning and zoning of malls
Shortage of qualified human personnel in the area of facility
management, creative firms, and design houses.
Lack of differentiated offerings i.e. same mix of shopping, foods and
films

Page | 25

OPPORTUNITIES

Tier II and Tier III cities are still untapped

Outsourcing from other developed retail market
Progressive growth of aspirational consumer class, believing more in
spending than savings
Nation of youth (with median age 24 and 35% of population below 14
years)
Growing urbanisation and increase in purchasing power of consumers
The Indian middle class is already 30 Crore & is projected to grow to
over 60 Crore by 2010 making India one of the largest consumer
markets of the world. The IMAGES-KSA projections indicate that by
2015, India will have over 55 Crore people under the age of 20 reflecting the enormous opportunities possible in the kids and teens
retailing segment.

THREATS

Non availability of adequate finance

Undeveloped supply chain
Vigorous competition from unorganised retailers
Keeping up brand loyalty
Disturbance in income strata of consumers greatly influence malls
growth
Threat from online players, (even though internet penetration is low in
India)
Shopping Culture: Shopping culture has not developed in India as yet.
Even now malls are just a place to hang around with family and friends
and largely confined to windowshopping.

THE EVALUATION:
Page | 26

Demographics:
People interviewed were basically divided into groups for better
understanding of what age group reflects what when they visit a mall.
The age groups were divided into: less than 16; 17-29; 30+
The pie below shows the percentage-wise bifurcation of the total number of
people interviewed.

Infiniti Malad
13%

21%

Infiniti Andheri
>16
17-29
30+

66%

12%
54%

25%

17-29
30+

61%

Phenoix
34%

>16

14%

R City
>16
17-29

21%

30+

>16
29%

17-29
30+

50%

Page | 27

Oberoi
16%

22%

>16
17-29
30+

62%

Most of the people interviewed were

from the earning population of the society.
Although, feedbacks and suggestions given by the other stratus of the
society were considered with high importance as they are the influencers in
most cases when it comes to buying goods from malls.

Page | 28

Gender:
When it comes to malls, both the genders have something or the other
which they can spend on.
Keeping this factor in mind the sample has been equally divided having male
and female population almost at par. The below pie diagram explains it in a
better manner:

Infiniti Malad

Infiniti Andheri
Male

51%

49%

Female

Male
52%

Pheonix

48%

R City
Male

50%

50%

Female

Female

Male
46%

54%

Female

Page | 29

Oberoi
Male
47%

Female

53%

Marital Status:
Marital status defines what all expectations are on their minds with respect
to entertainment, play areas, food court and other areas in the mall. The
marital statuses of people interviewed are displayed in the form of a pie
diagram:

Infiniti Malad
29%
71%

Infiniti Andheri

Married

23%

Single

Married
Single

77%

Page | 30

Pheonix

R City
Married

57%

43%

31%

Single

Married
Single

69%

Oberoi
28%

Married
Single

72%

Page | 31

Degree of Education:
Degree of education or how much the interviewee is educated is also an
important factor as it displays a certain level of thinking or psychology which
can turn the buying decisions in a mall.
Off the people interviewed at Infiniti mall, this is the educational level of the
sample chosen:

Infiniti Malad

Infiniti Andheri

High School
12% 5% 27%
56%

Graduation
Masters
PhD

High School
2%
13%
54%

31%

Graduation
Masters
PhD

Page | 32

Pheonix

R City
High School

18%4% 27%

Graduation
Masters
PhD

51%

High School
13% 20%
67%

Graduation
Masters
PhD

Oberoi
High School
18% 1% 26%
55%

Graduation
Masters
PhD

Migration level:
Migration level of people staying in that particular vicinity also plays a vital
role while analyzing competition for a particular mall as people who have
migrated are used to go to the malls and shopping centers in the area that
they have came from rather than looking out for new experiences in the
malls nearby. The migration level of the people visiting Infiniti malls have
been shown below with the help of a pie diagram:

Page | 33

Infiniti Malad

Permanent
Residents

24%
48%
16%
12%

Residing since
2 years
Residing since
5 years

Infiniti Andheri

Permanent
Residents

22%
13%
12%

R City

Residing since
2 years

7%

62%

Residing since
5 years
Residing since
7 years

Residing since
5 years
Residing since
7 years

Permanent
Residents

12%

53%

Residing since
7 years

Pheonix
19%

Residing since
2 years

Residing since
2 years

17%
4%
8%

Permanent
Residents

71%

Residing since
5 years
Residing since
7 years

Page | 34

Oberoi

Permanent
Residents
Residing since 2
years

13%
13%
74%

Residing since 5
years
Residing since 7
years

Page | 35

Question 1: The factors which influence the most for a consumer while
going for shopping a mall:
From the chosen samples that were interviewed to fill up the questionnaire,
we concluded that the following importance was given to each factors that
were mentioned in the first question:

Infiniti Malad
Parking space
Discounts (offers)
Price
Variety (Brands)
Service
Shopping Environment
Entertainment
Movies
Cleanliness
Safety
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Pheonix
Parking space
Discounts (offers)
Price
Variety (Brands)
Service
Shopping Environment
Entertainment
Movies
Cleanliness
Safety
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Infiniti Andheri
Parking space
Discounts (offers)
Price
Variety (Brands)
Service
Shopping Environment
Entertainment
Movies
Cleanliness
Safety
1
0

3
2

5
4

7
6

9
8 10

R City
Parking space
Discounts (offers)
Price
Variety (Brands)
Service
Shopping Environment
Entertainment
Movies
Cleanliness
Safety
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910

Page | 36

Oberoi
Parking space
Discounts (offers)
Price
Variety (Brands)
Service
Shopping Environment
Entertainment
Movies
Cleanliness
Safety
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

From the above data, we can

understand that brands at the mall are given the most importance at any
mall, followed by discounts and offers. They are followed by offered price
and the least importance is given to parking area at the mall above which is
the safety feature and the movies that are shown at the multiplex in the
mall.Hence, to have an advantage over the competition, any mall should
build on the brands that are available at the mall at a reasonable price.

Page | 37

Question 2: Factors that makes the customer visit the mall again:
When it comes to competition between the malls, bringing the customer
again to the same mall becomes quite challenging for any one of them.
Listed below are the factors that make a customer visit the mall again:

Infiniti Malad

Infiniti Andheri

Distance

Distance

Brands at the Mall

Brands at the Mall

Entertainment

Entertainment

Advertising

Advertising

Ambience

Ambience

Events and Promotion

Events and Promotion

R City

an En
d te
Pr rt
om ai
n
ot m
io en
n
t

Ev
en
ts

Ev
en
ts

an En
d te
Pr rt
om ai
n
ot m
io en
n
t

Pheonix

Page | 38

Oberoi
Distance
Brands at the Mall
Entertainment
Advertising
Ambience
Events and Promotion
0

From the above bar diagram, we can

understand that brands at the mall are given the most prior importance by
the customers for making them visit the mall again. Advertising about the
brands and the offers levied by them is given the next importance by the
customers interviewed. Events and promotions which are being conducted at
the mall are given the least importance by the customer which gives us an
indication that to compete with any mall, the least importance is to be given
to the events that are being conducted at the mall. Ofcourse, events and
promotions do attract people (like launching of music of a particular movie
or a book launch) but the crowd is not the one which makes the most
purchases at the mall. This gives rise to the factor of quality footfalls at the
shopping mall. Each and every mall should try and increase the quality
footfalls at their malls which in turn increases the revenues.

Page | 39

Question 3: The role of children in bringing their parents/guardians to the

shopping malls:
The Indian consumer being very emotional and sensitive towards children,
they do as said by the children so as to make them happy. This also includes
bringing them to the shopping malls for family entertainment and a hangout
place for the parents as well. The people interviewed give us their thoughts
about the same question which is explained in form of a pie diagram which
indicates whether children bring their parents or guardians to the shopping
malls:

Infiniti Malad
13%

Inifiniti Andheri
Yes

Yes

22%

No
87%

No
78%

Page | 40

Pheonix

R City
Yes

11%

Yes

16%

No

No
84%

89%

From the above diagram, we can understand that children do actually play a
very vital role when it comes to bringing their parents or guardians to the
shopping malls. The main reasons that have been given by the interviewed
people are as follows:

Oberoi
Yes

21%

No
79%

Everyone wants their children to be

happy (shopping malls gives happiness to children)
They want to buy toys (toy stores also play an important role)
They want to play videogames at the malls (entertainment for children
pokes in here)
Children want to have junk food, for which we have to visit a mall
(foodcourt at the shopping mall)
Page | 41

Question 4: How often do people visit Infiniti mall?

Not only it is important to attract customers but also it is important to retain
customers which have already been visiting the mall since a long time. This
is because the cost of acquiring a new customer is sixteen times higher than
retaining an old one as they are well aware about the services and
experiences at the shopping malls. This gives a better competitive edge over
the malls in the vicinity. The below pie diagram shows how off the people
interviewed, what is the frequency of people visiting the mall:

Page | 42

Infiniti Malad

Infiniti Andheri

First Visit
Once a Week

18% 2%

37%

Once a Month

43%

More that that

First Visit
16% 3%
39%

Once a Week
42%

More that that

R City

Pheonix

First Visit

First Visit
Once a Week

13%4%

27%

Once a Month
More that that

56%

Once a Month

23% 2% 31%
44%

Once a Week
Once a Month
More that that

Oberoi
First Visit
38%

1%

32%

29%

Once a Week
Once a Month
More that that

To have a better edge over the

competition, every mall should try and increase the number of prospective
buyers frequency of visiting the malls. This will generate more revenues for
the mall and also increase the quality footfalls at the shopping area. Malls
should try and bring up strategies which will do the same like schemes and
Page | 43

discounts that would lure the prospective buyers to come more than once a
month and spend more than what their plan was in the mall.

Question 5: Customers visiting the same malls in the off-discount seasons:

As we have mentioned in the earlier questions that discounts and offers
plays a vital role in bringing customers to the shopping malls but will the
customers visit the mall and spend, most importantly, in the off discount
seasons as well. This question has been arising in the minds of most mall
management people that how can they bring more number of customers in
the regular days of the malls which makes them generate more revenues
than in the discount season. The pie diagram below gives us a brief idea as
to what customers say about visiting a shopping mall in the off discount
season with respect to the sample chosen for interviewing purpose:

Page | 44

Infiniti Malad
6%

Infiniti Andheri
Yes

11%

Yes

No
89%

94%

Pheonix
10%

No

R City
Yes

6%

No
90%

Yes
No

94%

Oberoi
2%

Yes
No

98%

The above diagram shows that a

customer does not give much of an importance to the fact that the mall is
running any discount schemes and what all offers are prevailing in the mall.
The customers might be of a different mindset while answering this question
as they might feel that the mall management will be looking at me as a
prospective buyer in the off season as well which makes them answer that
yes, they will buy good from that particular mal in the no-discount parts of
the year.
Page | 45

Question 6: Competition faced by the local retailers and the corner Kirana
shops by the malls:
People coming at the shopping malls have a particular mindset that how
much ever discounts the malls may give, they cannot compete with the local
kirana stores just across the streets as they have been buying goods from
the same store for a very long period and also have a great bargain over
different products along with the convenience of free home delivery which
they provide. But that fact they neglect is the malpractices that the local
stores does while giving them goods. When people buy from a shopping
mall, they are assured with quality along with great discounts and offers.
Yet, organized retail accounts for only 14% of the total retailing industry in
India which competes with the huge unorganized markets. In the below
diagram, it is displayed how often people coming to the malls for shopping
malls for buying goods also purchase from the local and unorganized
retailers across the streets:

Page | 46

Infiniti Malad

Infiniti Andheri

Very Often
(once every
15 days)
21%
50%

29%

Sometimes
(Once a
month)
Once in a blue
moon (once in
3 months)

Very Often
(once every
15 days)
31%
48%

21%

Sometimes
(Once a
month)

Once in a
blue moon
(once in 3
months)

Page | 47

Oberoi

21%

Very Often
(once every
15 days)
Sometimes
(Once a
month)

19%

60%

Once in a blue
moon (once in
3 months)

Pheonix

Very Often
(once every
15 days)

27%

14%
59%

Sometimes
(Once a
month)
Once in a blue
moon (once in
3 months)

Page | 48

R City

22%

23%

55%

Very Often
(once every 15
days)
Sometimes
(Once a
month)
Once in a blue
moon (once in
3 months)

From the above information we can understand that although people might
be visiting and revisiting shopping malls for infinite reasons but when it
comes to buying goods from a local kirana store, they are not hesitant about
it. Infact, 50% of the total sample size talks about buying goods from the
local kirana stores once every month which decreases quality footfalls in the
shopping malls. For a better working and increasing the number of buyers,
malls much try and shorten the gap between the share which the organized
and the unorganized retailing in India by opening more and more number of
shopping malls and department stores which leads to better revenues for the
malls.

Question 7: Spending of the customer during a single visit to the mall:

The mall management must understand how much a person entering into
their mall is capable of spending and how much it accounts for the revenues
generated for the shopping mall. The demographics might give a rough idea
so as to how much a person might be earning but how much of that earnings
are actually spent on the mall is the question that should arise. Most of the
disposable income should be spent in their malls on a regular basis which
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gives better results to the mall management. Below bar diagrams gives a
better idea so as to how much the people spend from the interviewed
sample:

Infiniti Andheri

Infiniti Malad
100%

100%

80%

80%

60%

60%

40%

40%

20%

20%

0%

0%

Pheonix

R City

100%

100%

80%

80%

60%

60%

40%

40%

20%

20%

0%

0%

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Oberoi
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%

Question 8: Spending more than what was planned:

By asking this question we understand whether the ambience and shopping
environment really helps in making the people come and spend in the mall
or is it just another expense that the mall has to incur just to attract people
(this does not include quality foot falls). The findings were as stated below:

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Infiniti Malad

Infiniti Andheri
Yes

35%
65%

No

68%

Pheonix

No
77%

No

R City
Yes

23%

Yes

32%

41%

Yes
59%

No

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Oberoi
Yes

30%

No
70%

The main reasons that were stated

by the people interviewed were:
We come across something catchy which makes us spend more.
While at a mall, we forget what budget was planned because of so many
flashy items.
Once we start buying, we tend to forget about the budget.
The planned budget does not fulfill the requirement which makes us cross
the border.

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Question 9: Rate the mall:

Back in the first question we had stated some elements which are important
for anyone to make them buy goods from a mall. In the second question we
had elements which made people visit the mall again. On the bases of the
elements there, people were asked to rate the malls they were at. Following
were the ratings that people gave to the malls:
100%
90%
80%
70%
Ones

60%

Twos

50%

Threes
Fours

40%

Fives

30%
20%
10%
0%
Infiniti Malad Infiniti Andheri

Pheonix

R City

Oberoi

From the above data we can see that people find Infiniti Malads experience
to be the best among all the malls that were taken into account for this
project. People gave excellent comments when it came to describe the mall
experience verbally and are looking forward to have the same experience in
the future as well.
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Question 10: Recommendations:

When it comes to open ended questions people are reluctant to answer it in
a negative manner just to close things in a systematic manner. But in case of
the provided questionnaire, people were giving great recommendations and
suggestions that could make their shopping and entertainment experience at
the mall more lively and would make them visit the mall again. The best
recommendations were:
Something for the elders: People of the older generations are also looking
for something that would make their visits to the shopping malls more
delightful. They are looking for something in entertainment and would love if
it involves people from the younger generation as well.
Activities at the parking area: People have often seen the parking areas
of shopping malls to be the most boring places in the mall. Suggestions have
been penned down to make things more lively at the parking.
Washrooms: People have complained about the size of the washrooms.
They have suggested that bigger washrooms would make it easier for people
to make revisiting decisions to the malls.
More number of variety and brands needed: People have often been
seen in the malls looking for a particular band which they are loyal to. And if
they dont find that brand, they scrap the purchase decision.
Recommendations have been made to add more number of brands of
apparels and accessories to avoid this and make the shopping experience
the best for the customer.
Securities issue: People have been complaining about the securities issues
at shopping malls which ruin their experience there. To make things better,
people have suggested to hire better and experienced security professionals
which would make things easier for the customers at the shopping malls.
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Advertising of Brands: People have complained about not having the

knowledge of what offers and discounts are prevailing at a particular brand.
Advertisements and promotions should be done for the same from where
maximum people can view it and make the most of the discounts and offers.
Clubbing: People, mostly the youth, have demanded clubbing area in the
shopping malls which would enhance their experience about visiting the
mall.

Limitations:
As the research was conducted across 5 different malls across Mumbai, there
were certain limitations that were faced while conducting the research:
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Busy Schedule of People: People who could have give us a healthy

feedback were found to be busy whose replies to the questions might
have changed the way malls work. But the busy schedule and fast life
of the city of Mumbai didnt allow people to take out their time and
give their valuable feedbacks which could have led this project in a
better direction.
Not possible to include many questions: As we used questionnaire
form of interview to collect data from the respondents, it was not
possible to ask many questions as it would hamper the quality of the
research. Hence limiting the number of questions was also a limitation
of the research.
Time and place: As the place of the respondents to be interviewed
was a mall, majority of the crowd would turn up after a certain time,
resulting in lack of time to conduct quality research on the people
visiting them. The place, which were malls, are considered to be a
place to spend quality time with friends and family and people are
generally reluctant to fill questions and answer questions. This made
things a little difficult.

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Conclusion:
After looking at the above data we have come to a conclusion that presently
there is a trend of considerable increase of shopping malls in all the metro
cities , small towns and a large section of middle class , upper middle class
people are coming for shopping because of the following reasons:

Customers convenience for shopping. Items from food to clothing,

grocery to electronics are available under one roof.
Better environment and improved customer service.
Competitive price with seasonal discount various gift scheme.
Various options to the customer for choosing brand and variety.
Ample scope of promoting sales and enhance brand image.
Availability of parking space for their car
Scope of employment at local area for various segments.

Considering mash rooming of shopping mall, small business man, shop

owners and farmers are facing acute financial problem as their business
transactions are reducing sharply. Loosing employment by the employee of
small shop owners, many of them who were dependent on the small shop for
their living are facing the heat.
On one hand where the shopping malls are slowly capturing the market due
their superior power and size for which they are able to attract more and
more customers towards them, on the other hand due to growing trend of
shopping mall , especially the farmers and the small shop owners of
groceries and other house hold goods are affected as considerable number of
customers are shopping these items from shopping malls instead of normal
market, and the profit margin is slopping towards the shopping mall To
encounter the situation it is required to impose rule or preferably ban by the
concerned authority to restrain sales of some particular items (fruit,
vegetables and some other glossary product) from shopping mall. This will
give the small shop owner and the farmers some protection against the giant
shopping malls, so that they can get back to their normal state.
SAMPLE QUESTIONNAIRE:
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Name:
_____________________________________________________________
Email:
_____________________________________________________________
Age: _________________________

Gender:

Occupation: ____________ Marital Status:

Children:

Yes

Degree of Education:

Single

F
Married

No
High School

Graduation

Masters

PhD

Others: ______________________ (Please Specify)

Residential area: __________________

Since: _________________

1. What according to you are the factors which influence your

behavior, while going for shopping at a mall? Please rank-

2. What makes you visit a mall again?

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3. Do you think that children play a vital role in bringing their

parents or gardians to malls and why?

________________________________________________________
4. How often do you visit this mall?

5. Will you still visit this mall again in the off-discount season as
well?

6. How often do you buy goods from the local retailers?

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7. How much do you (app.) spend during a single visit to a mall?

8. Do you tend to spend more than what you had planned for
during your visits to a mall and why?

________________________________________________________
9. Rate this mall on a scale of 1 to 5 with one being the highest:
1

10.
Recommendations, if any:
________________________________________________________

Thank You for your time and kind co-operation.

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References/Bibliography:
Projects:

LESSONS FROM DYING MALLS in India Why do so many malls fail,

and so few succeed?
o By: Vishal Krishna with Priyanka Pani
Mall Management A Growing Phenomenon in Indian Retail Industry
o By: Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj
INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON MALL MANAGEMENT
o On: 5-6th September,2010, Le Meridien, NEW DELHI

Websites:
http://changeobserver.designobserver.com/feature/dawn-of-the-dead-mall/11747/
http://www.indiaretailing.com/
http://www.deadmalls.com/
http://in.rediff.com/money/2006/sep/05mall.htm
http://www.123oye.com/job-articles/business-corporates/malling-culture.htm
http://www.scribd.com/doc/28833667/Project-on-Shopping-Malls
http://www.chillibreeze.com/articles_various/Malls-in-India.asp

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