How Shopping Malls like ‘City of Dreams’ are the Best Opportunities for Retail Franchises

Having dominated the Indian retail market for long,the time has come for the small and unorganised standalone stores, boutiques, and kirana stores to be accompanied by new retail formats such as malls, hypermarkets, supermarkets and lifestyle stores. These new formats are increasingly catching the attention of the consumers for whom shopping had mostly been an escape from their monotonous lives.

As the purchasing power is continuously increasing, so is the mall culture— not just in tier-I but also in tier-II and III cities. While thinking from an investor’s or a retailer’s perspective, shopping malls are likely to be an entity which can be lucrative in order to gain maximum footfall in their retail store or franchise.

To gain a deeper understanding about how shopping malls could be lucrative to retailers, let’s understand the factors that drive the mall culture.

Consumer Behavior: What drives  Consumers Towards a Mall

A shopping mall is incorporated with various facilities that entice customers towards it. These facilities could range from quality, quantity, appeal, recreation facilities, ambience, to refined tastes of shoppers and much more.

A place that offers high profile shopping, multi-brand facilities, overwhelming environment and convenience all under one roof is definitely going to attract consumers more. Therefore, the average footfall of malls is generally higher than retail stores that are run elsewhere. For example, the average footfall in a Delhi mall on weekdays is 35,000-40,000 and 50,000-60,000 on weekends, which could be definitely more than any independent store’s footfall.This is mainly because while shopping from a store in a mall, people will pass your store front and the possibilities are higher than they will enter your store and end up buying stuff from there.

Advantages of Opening a Retail Franchise in a Shopping Mall

Apart from the footfall, there are several other benefits for retailers to start their franchises in shopping malls. Here are some of them:

Gaining Customer Trust –By associating with a mall, you can earn customers’ trust in your products and services.

Security–A mall is a secure place for both consumers as well as for the retailers as there are various facilities like CCTV cameras, elevators, escalators, etc. This way, the chances of thievery are minimal.

Parking Space – Believe it or not, but parking space has become an essential factor in deciding where to shop nowadays. Most malls offer ample space for parking, thereby letting the consumers shop without any tension or hassle.

Power Back-up – Power outrages is one of the biggest concerns while running a retail store. Most of the malls are equipped with generators that ensure a 24/7 power supply, keeping your business open and available for customers all day.

FoodCourts–Food courts and restaurants is another factor for which a lot of consumers enter the mall. The availability of food courts could attract consumers to your store as well.

City of Dreams – An Open Opportunity for Retailers

While there might be many other opportunities for retailers in India to collaborate with a mall, City of Dreams in Nepal could also be an attractive opportunity for retailers who wish to expand internationally.

Soon to be launched, City of Dreams is a commercial shopping center (mall) project which will be located in Maharajgunj, Kathmandu, and has been designed to provide all the services needed by the customers while shopping to meet their personal needs as well as those of their families. 

Vastly spread in the total area of 1777.53 Sq m, it will include a hypermarket, retail stores, an ice rink and other sporting goods. In addition, the three-storey mall will feature a wide variety of national and international restaurants, like a food court, fine dining restaurants, bars and cafés. The mall also has a dedicated floor for children's recreation, movie halls and nightclub. City of Dreams’ mall is also a complete differently-abled friendly property. With the largest parking available in Kathmandu, the mall is going to have everything that could a mall should have. So, consider City of Dreams to open your retail store internationally.