Shopping Centre News is a bimonthly magazine that was launched at India Shopping Centre Forum, on March 18, 2008, in Mumbai.

It is only to be expected that the vision is far-reaching. To put it across in the main points, Shopping Centre News will strive to:

Be a knowledge resource centre that collects, analyses and disseminates information on the Indian shopping centre industry in all its aspects of operation
Encourage the development and spread of sophisticated management paradigms and maintenance methods, keeping in context global benchmarks in the arena
Build up – and inspire – a body of focused research into the architecture, aesthetic and design aspects of shopping centres
Be a bridge between shopping centre developers and the retail community, to help forge a mutually profitable relationship

Here’s to the Facilitators of Shopping Centre Success

Making a shopping centre popular and profitable is hard work. It is also  teamwork. To get the leasing strategy, the tenant mix and zoning right requires expertise. And while malls usually have skilled teams onboard, sometimes bringing an external facilitator is required. Enter real estate consultants.
With their depth of analytical skills, industry knowledge, contacts and experience, consultants sometimes prove to be the magic ingredient for success not just for mall developers but retailers as well. After all, the shopping centres are a collective business

IMAGES Group recognises the contribution made by these professionals to the shopping centre industry. From finding the right tenants to helping turn around a flailing centre and working with brands and retailers to create magic for customers, consultants add tremendous value to the retail real estate ecosystem. In this edition of Shopping Centre News, we feature some of the leading and reputable real estate consultants in the business of shopping centres. The edition carries an exclusive feature talk highlighting the journey, challenges, aspirations, vision and goals of these professionals.

Leasing Heads: The Agents of Shopping Centres Success

The success of a shopping centres greatly lies on meticulous leasing with a well-planned zoning, tenant mix and offerings to target customers among other parameters. Leasing is a very delicate business, and it is very important to understand the key components of a lease transaction.

Therefore, the in-charge of leasing in a shopping centre plays a significant role in achieving the goal. His/her ultimate experience and aim offers a great valueto the guests at the shopping centre with maximum value and convenience. And, also helps to achieve higher conversions and thereby, better and higher sales for the tenants.

Organised Retail Sales Volume Continues to Grow…
A recent report from CRISIL states that shopping mall operators are expected to earn 7-9 per cent higher revenue during this fiscal, which is very explicit news for the industry. The graph is going upwards, due to the strong retail consumption and improved rentals in the malls. This means that the tantamount growth in revenue will be on a high base of FY23, which will be expected to be around 125 percent of pre-pandemic or fiscal 2020.

This gives a clear indication that the return to social normalcy after mobility curbs were lifted led to substantialgrowth in footfalls and a robust 60 per cent rise in revenue to around 116 per cent of the pre-pandemic level. Considering the healthy performance of the sector, capex is expected to pick up over the near to medium term. While a sizable part of it may be funded by equity from global investors, large debt contracted for new developments will bear watching.

The retail sales in Indian shopping centres across top 8 cities grew at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of approximately 3 per cent to reach USD 8Bn in FY 2022. While in FY2023, the potential consumption is estimated to surpass the pre-Covid to reach USD 11 bn. The organised retail sales volume could grow at an expected CAGR of 24% between FY 2017 and FY 2022 maintaining a healthy rate of growth.

Retail Leasing Activity Escalates Across Malls in Tier I Cities

Retail leasing activity in shopping centres has actively increased by 5% from the previous half-year 2.43 million square feet in the second half of 2022, states a report by CBRE. This indeed is very welcoming news for the industry, as we are witnessing heightened activities and customers are seen to be thronging again to malls.

There is a significant rise in footfall and improved occupancy of 94% in established Grade A malls across major cities, which has also caused rental values in malls to appreciate predominantly in cities like Bengaluru, Kolkata, and MMR. The commercial edifices have been replaced by newer, better ones as the number of those looking to rent retail space has gone up. The total supply in 2022 touched 20.9 million square feet. The majority of this space take-up was led by domestic occupiers.

Bharat Ruled Retail Real Estate in 2022

The new report from CBRE claims that retail leasing grew by 21 % Y-o-Y in 2022 to 4.7 million sq. ft in 2022. The supply in 2022 stood at 1.4 million sq. ft. Overall, Bengaluru and Delhi-NCR had a major share (61%) in leasing activity in 2022, while Chennai, Hyderabad, and Pune had a 9% share each. The key sectors that drove leasing activity in 2022 were fashion & apparel, food & beverage (F&B), hypermarkets, homeware & department stores.
The evaluation is a much-needed boost for the industry as we enter the new year with fresh goals, hopes renewed energy and positivity. Once again, the industry will have certain promises, goals and missions to take on. Re-building the consumption story of Indian retail is one of them and shopping centres will play a very significant role in this journey.
Going forward, we expect retail leasing to gain traction in Tier II, III, and even IV cities as retailers and landlords are looking to leverage the purchasing power of these towns and cities. Big real estate players and mall developers are reaching out to these cities for their projects in large numbers. Even the international retailers and brands are launching their stores in these upcoming malls.
In this first edition of 2022, we also bring our readers an exclusive interaction with the captains of shopping malls across India. They speak about how they are eyeing growth this year, what their strategy to stay closer to the customer is and how they are implementing technology and learning from the past year to make this year count.
As always, we hope you find the issue informative and useful. Log on to our website https://www. indiaretailing. com/ category/shoppingcentre/ for more features, analysis and expert opinions. Happy reading and wish you all a happy and profitable 2023.

Festive seasons have always acted as catalysts in boosting sales and footfallsfor shopping centres. As September marks the beginning of the festive season in India, shopping malls and retailers are once again betting on sales to surge by 15-20 per cent in comparison to last year. The 2021 festive season turned out to be a lifeline for the retail fraternity, as it saw many malls and brands reaching the pre-pandemic level, in terms of sales and revenue.

Adding more to the positive news, the recent report from Knight Frank India announced that 15.5 million sq. ft. of retail space has been added across 16 malls since Jan 2020. Retail sales in Indian malls across the top 8 cities grew at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of approximately 3% to reach USD 8 bn in FY 2022 while in FY 2023, the potential consumption is estimated to surpass the pre - COVID-19 levels to reach USD 11 bn. The organised retail sales volume could grow at an expected CAGR of 24% between FY 2017 and FY 2022 maintaining a healthy rate of growth.

All we can say is that this year has been going to be extra special for the retail ecosystem and each and every brand across categories and domains is gearing up to welcome the new-age customer with o􀆦 ers, discounts and their enhanced collections. Phygital Retail Convention (PRC) 2022, turned out to be a milestone for the IMAGES Group, as we once again successfully created the platform, nurturing a successful relationship between retailers and shopping centres. And now, in this edition of Shopping Centre News, we bring you the highlights from the Grand Finale session of PRC 2022.

Buzz in the Malls
Monsoon brings cheer to shoppers, retailers and malls alike. The End of Season Sale (EOSS) beginning July has given indications of strong consumer interest across all lifestyle categories like apparels & footwear; cosmetics, jewelry & watches and even electronics, home and hobbies, resulting in good footfalls and sales in shopping centres in all parts of India. All in all, the monsoon (sale) season has been a very rewarding period for the retail fraternity.

Adding more to the good news; driven by pent-up demand, high vaccination coverage and resumption of multiplexes, retail malls have witnessed a sharp recovery in their operational metrics in the last few quarters. An analysis from ICRA reports that almost every single retail division has reached the pre-covid levels in Q3 FY2022 and surpassed the pre-covid trading values in Q4 FY2022. The Q3 Fy2022 is also indicating that shopping malls are touching the footfall mark of pre-Covid levels. The rental income improvement has also seen a surge of 74% (Q2 FY2022).

This indeed is a very encouraging update for the industry which is still recovering from the pandemic debacle. On a samestore basis, the rental income is expected to increase by around 30% in FY2023 and is likely to surpass FY2020 levels by around 4%-6%. With the normalcy in the trading values, the occupancy is expected to improve in FY2023.

Consumer Experience is the Key

Shopping activity has rapidly picked up with offices and social activities resuming in full swing. The industry is expecting, FY2022-23 to be extremely good for the shopping malls, retailers and brands across categories . Consumers are loving to visit malls and markets to shop new-season collections to refresh their outdated wardrobes and homewares and also for outdoor dining & entertaining experiences. An accelerated rebound in footfalls and occupancy is being witnessed and consumption has surpassed pre-pandemic levels. The business has bounced back in a healthy fashion and the pent-up shopping experiences that consumers had missed during the pandemic have been observed.

Going ‘Omnichannel’ became an integral part of strategies of all successful brands and retailers across the globe during this pandemic period. Shopping centres too are partnering with their tenants to give a cohesive user experience to consumers at all touchpoints. Many mall owners are today proactively adapting properties to generate growth in today’s ommnichannel era. Omnichannel allows retailers to achieve more availability, drive sales and trafic, and integrate digital touchpoints. An omnichannel retail strategy improves the customer experience and providesmore channels for customer purchase––whether it is on mobile, web, or in stores.

Serving Customers Profitably tably
Nurturing a successful relationship between retailers and shopping centres is a common goal to serve customers. However, this is a huge challenge, as it has various parameters to deal with. Tenants and shopping centres need to have a clear vision and a strong will to serve this core purpose.

The success of a business relationship lies in the development and growth of trust and commitment among the role-players. In the world of retail today, trust is more important than ever, especially when it comes to relationships with clients, retail tenants, employees, and all stakeholders of a business.

From retailers’ perspective choosing the right shopping centre and for shopping centres choosing the right brand, is crucial to build a valuable proposition for all stakeholders on the ground of trust. Therefore, it is critical that both parties do their homework right before signing a lease agreement.

Leveraging Technology and Consumer Experience to Rejuvenate the Future of Malls

The future of retail real estate is as robust as the industry’s imagination and its ability to connect buyers to their individual and collective values and aspirations. The competitive environment is changing, forcing us to rethink all our assumptions about the industry, from how many and what kind of tenants the shopping centres need to house and how large the infrastructure must be in order to be successful. How to select the right location to build the mall, the selection of right anchor stores and the necessity of incorporating nontraditional elements such as housing, entertainment, and healthcare into mall design.

To succeed in the future the industry needs to think like the customers it serves. For example, customers never think in terms of channels. Instead, they are task-oriented, always looking for the most economical and efficient way to complete their tasks. New Normal is helping retail grow at every turn and it is very promising to see how brands are responding to the changes today.

Talking about all these important aspects, and to mark the eventful growth story and positive resurgence of the shopping centre industry, IMAGES pompously hosted the second edition of Shopping Centres Next 2022, at the Grand Hyatt (Goa) on May 12, 2022. The on-ground mega event brought the entire shopping centre ecosystem to discuss, deliberate, and share exclusive knowledge, and actionable strategies on how to build, operate, and scale profitable shopping malls in India.

Shopping Centres & Retailers Partnership to Providethe Mandatory Boost for Consumption

The fi rst quarter of 2022, so far has been quite optimistic and fruitful for the
shopping centres pan India and this is a very good news. Retail is all about
consumers, changes and innovation and the shopping centre industry is the
key driver of consumerism in India. My belief is that modern retail drives
consumption and that malls are pillars that power this drive seamlessly.
However, I also believe that consumerism in India has not scaled up to the
level it could have gone up to and the onset of the pandemic stunted this
growth on a global scale.
Ever since the pandemic happened, the industry has witnessed so many
struggles and we have overcome all that in the last few months. The threat
of the fourth wave of the pandemic, is another challenge ahead of us. The
situation currently is not that worrying but going by the experiences of
the past, the industry understands, the restrictions and curfews won’t be a
happy state for the malls.

100 Edition of Shopping Centre News

With its March 2022 edition, Shopping Centre News has reached a historic milestone- 100th edition. Truly a notable milestone and it gives us a chance to look back with a lot of pride to see how far we have come in all these years touching new heights at every juncture. It has been a truly humbling experience and the journey we have traversed so far actually motivates us to look ahead with a lot of hope.

In 2008, Shopping Centre News was incepted with a vision that was far reaching, to create a magazine that is a knowledge resource centre which collects, analyses and disseminates information on the Indian shopping centre industry in all aspects of operations.

WhatsApp and SMS Marketing add strength to Digital Campaigns of Shopping Centres

The marketing of a retail shopping  centre is critical in helping the overall property performance and help tenants thrive in terms of bringing in customers and making profitable sales. The marketing plan not only describes the strategies that the mall management will deploy to attract and retain tenants but also to bring in more and new shoppers to the centres.
Ever since the pandemic, the shopping centres had to suff er a lot. As things are improving, the mall developers are once again back to their drawing boards and are restrategising their marketing plans to get out of the crisis in hand. A storm of global trends hitting overall sentiments at the same time is now the cause for the centres/ malls to change the role they play in people’s lives. No longer shopping or discounts or events are the primary factors.

Shopping  Centres and Retailers to Collaborate to Build India’s Consumption Story

Retail is all about consumerism and the shopping centre industry is the key driver of consumerism in India. My belief is that modern retail drives consumption and that malls are pillars that power this drive seamlessly. However, I also believe that consumerism in India has not scaled up to the level it could have gone up to and the onset of the pandemic stunted this growth on a global scale.

Ushering in the New Year with lots of positivity, hopes, renewed energy and prospects, we are eyeing retail real estate in a new way. In this year, once again the industry will have certain promises, goals and missions to take on. Re-building the consumption story of Indian retail is one of them and shopping centres will play a very signifi cant role in this journey. In this fi rst edition of 2022, we bring our readers an exclusive interaction with the captains of shopping malls across India. We wanted to know how they are eyeing for growth this year, what their strategy to stay closer to the customer is and how they are implementing technology and learning from the past year to make it count this year.

Malls Report Higher Conversion & Revival Rates in 2021

The year 2021, marks another successful yet demanding year for the shopping centre industry. In comparison to 2020, the year was fully under the infl uence and threat of the pandemic. Shopping centres became Omnichannel and included digital innovations in their portfolio. Yes, malls becoming phygital has become a reality in India. Every mall took decisive steps in raising their digital and innovations bar. Mall developers also embraced feedback more and more from the retailers on how the current shopping centres need to embrace the phygital element, as well as their inputs for all future shopping centre developments.

Yet again the festival season turned out to be a saviour for the shopping centres and the mall developers in 2021 as well. Most malls reached the 100 per cent recovery mark during this season. The opening of cinema and multiplexes in the later half turned outto be another huge achievement. Fortunately, while the beginning of the year posed a setback for the Indian economy, the end saw a lift in business and revenues, indicating a new hope, a new dawn and a new vision for the industry in the new year.

Aligning Shopping Centres and Retail with New- Age Connected Consumers

In the current scenario, it is very important to understand how retailers, mall developers, and tenants can work together to create destinations and experiences that reflect today’s buyer behaviour? As things stand, tenants and mall owners will need to rethink traditional partnership models to cooperatively drive new lifestyle, social, and retail off erings. Across all important verticals, occupiers and retail real estate leaders must work together to generate customer confidence, co-create digital triggers, drive demand, and re-energize toplines.

For a long time, much has been talked about ‘experiential’ shopping spaces, and now the time has come to evolve them to ‘phygital’ spaces. Mall developers are embracing feedback more and more from the retailers on how the current shopping centres need to embrace the phygital element, as well as their inputs for all future shopping centre developments. After all, nobody has their ears closer to the shopperthan the retailers – the big box retailers, the boutique stores, as well as the online retailers. It is only with their constant feedback and inputs that developers can create the right mix of shopping spaces.
With great pleasure and pride, we inform our readers that the second edition of Phygital Retail Convention (PRC) held at Hotel Renaissance on November 10-11 was a huge success. It was quite fascinating to see Indian retail and the shopping centre industries celebrating a triumphant return to the on- ground mega industry gathering.

Aligning Shopping Centres and Retail with New- Age Connected Consumers

In the current scenario, it is very important to understand how retailers, mall developers, and tenants can work together to create destinations and experiences that reflect today’s buyer behaviour? As things stand, tenants and mall owners will need to rethink traditional partnership models to cooperatively drive new lifestyle, social, and retail off erings. Across all important verticals, occupiers and retail real estate leaders must work together to generate customer confidence, co-create digital triggers, drive demand, and re-energize toplines.

For a long time, much has been talked about ‘experiential’ shopping spaces, and now the time has come to evolve them to ‘phygital’ spaces. Mall developers are embracing feedback more and more from the retailers on how the current shopping centres need to embrace the phygital element, as well as their inputs for all future shopping centre developments. After all, nobody has their ears closer to the shopperthan the retailers – the big box retailers, the boutique stores, as well as the online retailers. It is only with their constant feedback and inputs that developers can create the right mix of shopping spaces.

Shopping Centres Next 2021: A Long-awaited Industry Brainstorm
With great pleasure and pride, we inform our readers that the inaugural edition of Shopping Centres Next on September 1-2 in Goa was a huge success. It was quite fascinating to see India’s shopping centre industry celebrating a triumphant return to the first on-ground mega industry gathering in over 18 months.

The two-day event was attended by more than 200 industry experts, shopping centre developers, retailers and analysts, following all COVID guidelines and protocols mentioned by the government. Marking a tremendously positive resurgence from the challenges of the past year, the event themed on ‘Creating India’s Next-generation Social Spaces’, refl ected the innovations that developers and retailers must embark upon to reinstate unique visitor lifestyle experiences that only physical spaces can off er.

The event had masterclasses, roundtable discussions, sessions and conferences which was a learning experience for the new attendees and the ones who had been a part of such programs in the past. Omnichannelisation of shopping centres along with the infl uence and impact of technology and digital upgradation were the main topics of discussion and most shopping centres talked about their innovations and achievements in this area over the past two years. The September edition of Shopping Centre News magazine highlights the key elements of the event.

Shopping Centres Embark on Cautious Return to Normalcy
India’s shopping centre industry is making a positive return to new-normalcy. Malls are fi nally open, and customers sentiment is looking up as well.
For shopping centres in North and East India, the lockdown was for a shorter period and malls resumed operations partially from June, but for West and South, the period was a prolonged and painful one. Malls in Maharashtra finally got the green signal to open, after a long period of 4 months and therefore this time the approach is a very cautious one. No one is in a hurry to celebrate and neither have they let their guard down. The industry has been enduring unprecedented pressures since April 2020, and with the threat of a third wave looming, malls are preparing themselves to face a new set of challenges, trends and consumer behaviour.
The August edition of Shopping Centre News talks about how shopping malls are analysing and preparing new strategies. Malls are pushing for the vaccination drives and are encouraging the visitors along with their staff and employees to get vaccinated. Adding more to this, centres are also conducting robust digital campaigns/ sales/ services to reach out to their consumers in large numbers.

Small-town Shopping Centres Adapt to New Realities
For shopping centres pan India, the struggle and uncertainty phase is still on. Some cities are doing very well in terms of business as shopping malls along with cinemas, gyms and entertainment zones are allowed to open.Keeping safety and health concerns in mind, consumers are coming out not only to shop but are only utilising the entertainment and dining services as well. However, there are cities where malls are still shuttered, and that
is making things very tough for developers and the retailers present in those centres.
Adding more to this situation, leading retail brands across all categories are zeroing in on high street markets and Tier II cities for expansion across India. This was fi rst reported by Anarock and even experts from the industry believe that this situation is temporarily pushing malls to the backseat.
The July 2021 edition of Shopping Centre News brings our readers an analysis of how malls in Tier II cities are preparing themselves to deal with this challenge. The issue addresses how malls are responding to and dealing successfully, in an organised manner, with new learnings, SOPs, safety measures, and retailers’ response to changes in consumer behaviour.

Readying to reboot, again Despite the devastating blow India received at the start of the current fi nancial year, shopping centre developers have remained resilient and hopeful of better days to come. Many utilised their spaces to aid communities, while others upped their digital games to continue shopper engagement.

Businesses and startups in retail and consumer tech also worked overtime to ensure customers did not have to face challenges similar to ones they had to face in 2020. Organising vaccination drives by shopping centres also went some way in lifting the morale of theconsumers.

The June 2021 edition of Shopping Centre News brings to our readers an analysis of how shopping centres are once again preparing themselves with the ‘New Normals’ to counter the pandemic and welcome their shoppers with double fervor. Despite this excitement to see consumers back in the mall, shopping centres are under tremendous pressure, as theycontinue to deal with huge challenges and burdens, related to revenue, losses worth crores and are in need of fi nancial support both from the Government and fi nancial institutions. The issue addresses how malls are responding to and dealing successfully, in an organised manner, with new challenges, learnings, SOPs, safety measures, and retailers’ response to change in consumer behaviour.

Pausing for Digitalisation

As things stand, India’s mall developers have little choice but to wait until the ongoing disruptions lower in intensity and government-mandated restrictions are eased. The only good news for them is that caseloads continue to decline in most parts of India, and some state governments are mulling cautious re-openings from the first week of June.

Shopping centres in Delhi and Mumbai have been locked down for more than a month and malls in other parts of India will reach similar time frames in coming weeks. However, regional lockdowns in 2021 have been less severe in terms of restrictions and as a result, shopping centres were able to initiate measures to interact and engage with shoppers.

Thanks to the lessons of 2020, most malls were somewhat prepared for the restrictions this time around; many shopping centres gave up their retail spaces to anchors and vanilla tenants off ering essential services.

Also, opening up more restaurants with take away services, was the other sector which came into limelight. Additionally, malls in Mumbai and Thane off ered ‘drive-through’ vaccination centres in their premises and this became a trend for other cities as well. Shopping centres in Delhi NCR, Kolkata and Bangalore also followed this move to maintain their relevance, despite a tough business environment.

Yet Another Test of Resilience Begins

After witnessing a historic turnaround in the last five months in terms of business and revenue, it is disheartening to see the shopping centre industry back to similar circumstances in a matter of a few weeks. February and March saw almost every mall reaching a business level of 80 percent and was looking towards the recovery after facing losses worth of crores in 2020. The pandemic fear is back as there is a huge increase in the number of active cases and the shopping malls and non essential retail outlets are shut once again.

The State Governments have imposed 15 days lockdown and weekend curfews in most of the Tier I cities, with Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru feeling the maximum heat. In this adverse situation, when things are totally out of hand, various retail organisations along with SCAI and RAI and mall developers are looking forward towards the Government for support, to keep the infrastructure of the business running.

Shopping Malls will Cast their Magic in 2021

In the last few weeks, there has been a spike in the number of COVID cases. Despite this, the enthusiasm of the retail industry has been very high and the industry has decided that this time, it’s not going to bow down to the pandemic threats. The business of shopping centres has witnessed a fantastic revival despite the threat of COVID in the last two months.

Overall the month of February has been a happy hunting space for the mall developers and the retailers. As per a survey by RAI, the retail industry’s business achieved 93 percent of the pre-COVID sales in February with consumer durables and quick service restaurants showing a growth of 15 percent and 18 percent respectively. Malls witnessed more footfalls and conversion rates. The dwell time has also gone up as cinemas and FECs have opened up and consumers are coming out of their homes, finally. So far, 2021 has been good for the industry, with more optimistic and constructive news pouring in from around the country.

The cover story of March 2021, brings to our astute readers, how mall developers are optimistic about this year to bring back the good old days of retail, entertainment and dining at the malls. Going by the response received by the majority of the malls since their reopening, it is no understatement to accept that revival of the mall business is on the right track. From visiting the malls for shopping to simply looking at malls as a destination to spend time together with friends and family, people have been visiting malls and shopping centresas they would during the pre-COVID days – long queues at billing counters of major department stores and brands bear testimony to the fact as also the opening of a plethora of new stores, both at the national and regional levels.

Survey: Consumer Sentiment, Behaviour & Festive Season Sale Comparisons (2019-2020)
The pandemic is rewriting the rules of retail globally and the Indian Shopping Centre Industry is also feeling the heat. After a long period of 8 months, when the market had slowly started reviving, a new mutation of the virus and a spike in cases plus partial lockdown in Maharashtra rendered the situation gloomy again. Nonetheless, there have been learnings from past experiences and mall developers as well as retailers are hopeful of better days in the future.

Shopping Centre News recently conducted a survey on ‘Consumer Sentiments, Behaviour and Comparisons of Sales in the Festival Season (2019-2020)’ to ascertain the exact situation of the Indian Shopping Centre Industry on ground. 35 shopping centres pan India (including from Tier I, II & III cities), participated in the survey and the results were quite overwhelming.

The survey analysed details of how shopping centres have been performing since the onset of the festive season post-Lockdown (from October to December 2020), specifically gaining insights on sales, footfalls, dwell time, conversions, consumer demographics and out-of-the-box retail innovations, etc. as compared to the same period in the previous year.

Malls, Retailers Will Collaborate to Build India’s Consumption Story

Retail is all about consumerism and the shopping centre industry is the key driver of consumerism in India. My belief is that modern retail drives consumption and that malls are pillars that power this drive seamlessly. However, I also believe that consumerism in India has not scaled up to the level it could have gone up to and the onset of COVID-19 stunted this growth on a global scale.

But 2020 is over and as we enter into a new decade, we have certain promises, goals and missions to take on. Re-building the consumption story of Indian retail is one of them and shopping centres will play a very significant role in this journey.

Moving towards a brighter, more positive 2021, IMAGES Group conducted its first on-ground event post-COVID. At the ‘Retail RealEstate Strategy Meet’, we welcomed 100 retailers and mall developers. It was an evening well spent listening to and absorbing the ideas and initiatives which top retailers and shopping centre heads came up with during and after the lockdown period to get back on the track of revival and growth.

Malls Take the Added Responsibility of Safety & Hygiene

Barring the last one year, the year 2020 marks the end of a successful decade for the Shopping Centre industry. A lot has changed for the industry in the last 10 years. The operational mall tally in India crossed the 600 mark, bringing with it, many new investors, making India the new ‘it’ retail destination. The mall culture, which was earlier only limited to Tier I cities, made successful inroads into Tier II and beyond. With better infrastructure available -near home, Tier II and beyond are no longer rushing to big cities for all their shopping needs. Cities in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra have witnessed malls of total built up areas of more than one million sq ft (and mostly premium malls) which are comparable to world class malls.

The year also saw some of the unprecedented challenges in the form COVID-19, hitting the industry very hard. As shopping malls witnessed a shutdown for a period of seventy days and more in some cases, mall developers faced grave difficulties in every aspect –including renting, leasing, manpower, job loss and resources.

Virtual & Contactless Technology To Lead Fashion Segment Revival

Fashion retail, as a segment, has been one of the hardest hit categories in shopping centres ever since the lockdown was imposed in March 2020 due to the pandemic. Despite getting a green signal to open up in the month of July, sales in the apparel and accessories segment remained below par, due to low consumer sentiment and also because shoppers only stepped out for essentials in the initial days. In such an environment, a huge decline of almost 70 percent was reported in the business of apparel, clothing, and accessories segment (including jewellery and watches) in both the stores in malls and high streets. Although the fashion segment started picking up soon after the lockdown was eased, but a large ‘working from home’ populationmeant a change in the shopping behavior of the consumer, who was now buying more comfortwear, athleisure and loungewear than formal wear, than ever before.

This shopping behaviour started returning to a more normal pace as the months rolled on with no change in the pandemic. The festive season rolled in, and retailers and mall developers were not disappointed. Every mall has so far reported good sales, moving further along on the road to recovery than ever since COVID hit.

October brings some very good news for the Shopping Centre Industry with malls in Maharashtra finally getting clearance to open their food courts in the entire state. Aside from this, cinemas and other entertainment zones inside malls have been given the green signal to re-open with 50 percent occupancy. The industry – especially the F&B sector which had suffered losses worth crores – is hoping that the next few months will signal a recovery of sorts and with the festive season approaching, the news has been a relief for the industry.

Food courts and cinemas, which contribute about 22 percent to the total revenues, have borne the brunt of the impact on operations due to social distancing and are also expected to take the longest to recover. Aside from this, people are still scared and in two minds – should they eat outside of their homes, in a public place or not? This was obvious in the fact that food courts in shopping malls were deserted in the initial phase of the re-opening.

A New Beginning: Omnichannelisation of Shopping Malls in India

The rapid spike in the number of COVID-19 cases in India has led experts to an obvious conclusion – it will take at least another retail quarter, if not more, for the effect of the pandemic to be wiped clean on the shopping centre industry in the country, and even then, the aftereffects will linger on. As a result, malls in the country will need to stay on their toes for at least another financial year to bring in business and increase footfalls. Despite the losses though, the industry has founda ray of hope to cling on to – digital innovations, technologies and opportunities. Malls today are focusing on transforming into Omnichannelunits in the hopes of attracting more consumers and setting the cash registers ringing.

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Shopping Centre News Magazine - March 2022

Shopping Centre News Magazine Cover - February 2022 Edition

February 2022

Shopping Centre News Magazine - February 2022

Shopping Centre News Magazine Cover - January 2022 Edition

January 2022

Shopping Centre News Magazine - January 2022

Shopping Centre News Magazine Cover - December 2021 Edition

December 2021

Shopping Centre News Magazine - December 2021

Shopping Centre News Magazine Cover - November 2021 Edition

November 2021

Shopping Centre News Magazine - November 2021

Shopping Centre News magazine – launched at the India Shopping Centre Forum on March 18, 2008 – is currently in its 11th year of publication. In its decade+ journey, the publication continues to thrive as a knowledge resource center that collects, analyses and disseminates information on the rich Indian shopping centre industry.
 
The mission of the magazine is to encourage the development and spread of sophisticated management paradigms and maintenance methods, keeping in context global benchmarks of the mall industry. The monthly magazine also provides a body of focused research into the architecture, aesthetic and design aspects of shopping centres. 

The magazine – which is the foremost, most authoritative publication for the shopping centre industry in India – is now available every month and in an all new format. It will continue to act as a bridge between the shopping centre developers and the retail community to help forge a mutually profitable relationship. 

Shopping Centre News’ subscribers include everyone from CEOs, to marketing, leasing and fund managers to retailers, architects and retail designers. For those who want to keep up-to-date across the latest developments and events in the world of shopping centres, the magazine is a must-subscribe.

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Shopping Centre News Magazine - October - November 2014

Shopping Centre News Magazine - October - November 2014

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