Striking the Right Balance

Malls – a mini city!

Few weeks back, I went to JC Penny, located in a mall near our house. I bought a dress and stood in the long line to make the payment. When I was leaving the store, I realized that I also wanted to buy a new pair of jeans for my toddler. I quickly picked up one (fortunately or unfortunately the apparel and accessory options for boys is very limited) and headed towards the payment counter. This time there was an even bigger line for check out. I waited for 10-15mins and realized that there was some problem with one of the customer’s loyalty card and hence it was taking that long. I gave the jeans, I had picked up, to one of the salesperson (luckily I found her nearby – this is very rare) and left the store without buying it. I was already late, so did not have a lot of time to stand in the queue. Later I bought a jeans online at a much lower rate, which also looked a lot better than the one I had chosen before. 

Online shopping is definitely very convenient, easy, most of the times cheaper and it saves a lot of time. You can compare the prices of different brands, check for discounts, clearances and make a well informed decision. Online shopping has increased tremendously in the last decade. A lot of people find it very convenient to buy everything on Amazon. Many people also end up buying few small items from Walmart or the local grocery stores itself while doing their weekly grocery shopping. Eg: eye pencil or a comb or a body lotion. They want to avoid the pain of driving to the mall, finding the parking space, then walking for almost a mile inside the mall and finally standing in the queue for payment.

Then why do people go to a mall?

The concept of malls has changed a lot and will change even further. I feel that a lot of people go out to a mall primarily for entertainment and secondarily for shopping. Especially in cities with harsh climate, when the kids can’t play outdoors, play areas in the malls are a huge attraction for both the kids and their parents. So while the kids are playing, one of the parent (I mean the moms off course) can go and check out the stores located nearby. Many people also come to the mall to eat. The food court offers a variety of options. The advantage of eating at a food court over a restaurant is that a huge group can sit together and still enjoy different types of fast food at an affordable price. Malls have also become hit places to host birthday parties for kids. Such parties cost way less than having indoor parties at say Chuck E Cheese, Dave and Buster’s or any of these kid places like: gyms, Trampoline Parks or indoor pools. People also find it easier to get a professional picture clicked at a mall rather than privately hiring a photographer. So a lot of people come dressed up with their kids and get their pictures clicked. One of my friend also mentioned sometime back that he specifically goes to the mall located near his place to get a haircut because he likes that salon.

Then how will the traditional brick and mortar format of shopping work?

So here are a few things that I feel the malls should incorporate to make themselves relevant in the future.

1)      Majority of the people still go out to their nearby grocery stores on weekends. Grocery shopping is an every weekend chore. Very few do their groceries online. The same applies even for drugstores. It would be very convenient for people to shop for their groceries, if the store is located inside the mall. One parent can easily do the groceries, while the other can watch the children while they are playing in the mall. I have also observed many people waiting in the medical/drug stores for almost 30 to 40minutes to get their prescription filled. It would be a lot easier to spend that half an hour in the mall instead of trying to go through the boring Walgreen aisles. It will also save a lot of time and energy.

2)      Secondly I feel that it is high time all these stores (located inside the malls) improve their service. Brick and mortar stores need to be attentive towards their customers’ needs and the problems they are facing while shopping. They should make sure that every counter has a representative to take care of the customers and there are more billing counters. If people are going to experience bad service or like the incident I mentioned in the beginning, they will definitely prefer buying the same clothes online rather than buying it from a store. Enhancing shopping experience is very crucial. The stores should also offer some extra service beyond the one expected. Something which is more personalized. For example suggesting combination of clothes, helping to find the same type of clothing with a better deal, recommending the customers, what gifts they can buy ( depending on the age, sex, hobbies etc.) during festive season or for birthdays, helping elders to get the shopping cart etc.

3)      Thirdly, the malls can have other facilities like museums, libraries, big aquariums, art centers, or music lessons etc. for engaging the customers. So the concept of mall can be further extended to become a mini city!

I feel that there are still a lot of people out there who enjoy the experience of going out and shopping. It is important to understand their needs, expectations and aspirations and work on it. The malls need to make sure to engage these customers and give them a good service so that they still want to shop in the traditional brick and mortar format.