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F&B: The New Anchor to Increase the Footfall
As malls shift their stance from being just shopping centres to community hubs, retail is just becoming a part of the mix. Today, shopping can be done online, e-commerce giving the evolved consumer a wide variety and absolute convenience. So, what brings people to malls anymore?
Shopping centre developers are working towards understanding the new consumer and studying his needs and consequently, re-thinking their strategies. They are mindful of the fact that the new-age customer steps out of his house only in search of something new, and this is one of the main reasons why food has become a mall ‘anchor’.
Being eating out destinations – apart from providing retail and entertainment – means a mall has a very wholesome approach towards pulling in visitors.
Providing unique dining out possibilities to customers is proving to be a winning formula with studies suggesting that 40 percent of customers will choose a shopping centre based solely on the food offeringsthere. Apart from this, transactions increase as much as 25 percent at malls with quality food-and beverage options and shoppers who eat at the mall are spending up to 15 percent more per trip.
These whopping numbers are leading to Indian malls dedicating between 30-35 percent of their total area to F&B and entertainment zones. And this is not just food courts with a large amount of food varieties. There is a whole host of dining formats to choose from as well –food courts, kiosks and restaurants. And the investment is paying off with people thronging to malls in huge numbers. The January edition of Shopping Centre News studies the growing importance of the F&B segment in the Indian mall. The issue deep dives into what the food segment brings to the mall, along with the mall’s growth strategy and expansion plans in as far as food is concerned.
The edition also gives the reader a blow-by-blow account of the SCAI session held at IMAGES Group’s recently concluded 20th edition of India Fashion Forum. The session gives deep insights into the shopping centreindustry in India and what the sector needs to do in order to remain relevant to visitors and to stay in profit.
As always, we hope you find the issue informative and valuable to your business. Do log on to our website, www.indiaretailing. com to read more useful articles and analyses on innovative trends and developments in the shopping centre industry on a global stage with emphasis on India.
