Shopping Malls Take a Beating in Organized Indian Retail

Posted by sdp

October 28th, 2009

Shopping malls have mushroomed all over the major metros of India, spreading its tentacles far and wide, like the proverbial hydra. Gurgaon, Noida, and a few other satellite townships in the NCR (national capital region) of India’s capital city Delhi, have been standing witnesses and silent partners to this mall mania. Called as the ‘Shopping-mall capital of India’, Gurgaon has been a focal point of the this rising tide, with monolithic glass structures, colossal trade towers and a lot of glitzy skyscrapers manning the entire length and breadth of this erstwhile urban village. Many others have followed suit, as they jump into this bandwagon of a modern India, cashing in on the rising spending potential of the ‘great Indian middle class’.

But, beneath the swanky and ritzy surface, away from all the hype, the underbelly of this modern mega polis tells a totally different story. Not everything is bright and sunny as it seems. Recent studies have shown that many retail players have jumped into the fray and joined the rat race without much ado, completely overriding and overlooking the necessary checks and balances, before they get into a business venture. The global economic slowdown didn’t spare the Indian organized retail industry; it surely felt the pinch, if not as hard as in the modern day Eldorado, that they call the USA.

Retail companies in India have missed the woods for the trees, as the trend in the market shows that there has been a complete mismatch of consumers and brands. It’s true that the foot-falls in most of the major malls have been great and phenomenal, matching those in any developed retail markets; but, not all footfalls generate business. Other than the few multiplexes and the fast food chains, most of the retail endeavors have run into big troubles. Not everyone who enters the mall is a prospective consumer, as majority of them come just to hang out, and indulge in window shopping in an air-conditioned environment for free. With high real estate cost, many of these retailers have failed to break even, and business has been abysmally low, even non-existent at times.

It is high time for companies involved in retail in India organized to seriously think over the location, demography, culture and taste of the target consumers, before they join the free-for-all brigade. ‘Mall Culture’ is in, but with the fierce competition in the market, not many will make it without proper planning and strategy.

Posted by: sdp

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