A Brief Introduction To Mall Management Strategies
Going to a mall is somewhat of an adventure – the bright colors and vivid displays are enticing. On top of that, you can find almost anything that your heart desires! But have you ever thought about how this magic happens? A mall is a complex system with thousands of moving parts, and managing one is not easy at all. There are several mall management strategies that you can use to facilitate your operations, and we will look at some of them in this article. We will also look at how you can utilize digital solutions to enhance your administration. But before we go there, we need to understand what mall management is.
What is Mall Management?
A mall has a multitude of moving parts that need to function in tandem for the entire operation to run smoothly. A large part of mall management is finding the right tenants to both attract customers and stay in line with your mall’s brand image. Mall management encompasses all the functions needed for this to be possible, from security to accounts to marketing to leasing. To understand this vast topic better, we can look at mall management as having five different components.
Look at Five Mall Management Components
1. Positioning
This is an essential part of marketing and carries over into the mall management industry. You want your customers to have a specific image of your mall and brand – and you want them to choose you over your competitors. Positioning refers to how you place yourself in the minds of your consumers. You can start with a broad descriptor like a “regional mall” and narrow down your positioning as you proceed. While doing this, you have to take into account the tastes and behavioral patterns of your target audience.
2. Zoning
Zoning refers to how you decide to allocate space within your building. What percentage of floor space should be devoted to retail, and what percentage to entertainment? What is the optimum number of elevators so you don’t cause a bottleneck? A lot of this depends on your target customers, but you also have to consider certain architectural design principles.
3. Promotions and Marketing
Promotions are a great way to attract new customers (and tenants). Apart from the usual banners and posters, conducting events is a surefire way to increase your footfall. Some examples of effective promotional models include talk shows, celebrity visits, and book fairs.
4. Facility Management
Facility management refers to how people, processes, and technology are integrated into the space of your mall. It can be further classified into:
Infrastructure management
Which takes care of things like air conditioning, electricity, and water supply.
Ambiance management
Which handles the overall aesthetics and appearance.
Traffic management
Which takes care of everything from foot traffic to parking.
5. Financing
Just like in any other business, a mall has to ensure that it makes sound financial decisions. In addition to handling financial assets, this aspect of mall management also involves identifying and managing risks. Now that we have a basic grasp of what mall management entails, let us look at some mall management strategies.
5 Effective Mall Management Strategies
1. Make Sure Your Building is Accessible
It might seem like a no-brainer, but accessibility is one of the most important factors concerning mall management. If your customers find it painful to get to your mall, it isn’t likely that they will come back. In the same vein, you want to ensure that parking is a hassle-free experience for your customers. If their first impression of the mall is good, they are likely to evaluate the entire experience positively.
2. Have an Optimal Retail Mix
Like other mall management strategies, this will be different for each unit. You need to bear in mind the basic demographics of your community. You also need to make sure you cater to their shopping habits. You also want to make sure that you give your customers a space where they can rest and recharge, making it more likely that they will continue shopping. You can do this by having food stalls and a mall lounge.
3. Make Use of Loyalty Programs
Many individual shops and brands do this – giving you reward points for your purchases that you can use to get discounts and freebies in the future. You can do the same thing for your mall, using a tiered loyalty program. The more money people spend in your mall in a given period, the more perks you can offer them. Examples of such perks are VIP parking and access to the lounge.
4. Host Regular Events
This strategy caters directly to the “promotions” component of mall management. Holding events in your mall will automatically draw people to your location. You have free reign over what kind of events you host – workshops, interactive promotional campaigns, or even public service events like health camps.
5. Engage in Hybrid Retailing
Hybrid retailing is a new and unconventional method of blending the online and offline shopping experience. For example, you could choose a pair of jeans you like on an app, and then have the exact pair delivered to you in a designated dressing room. Once you’ve tried it on, you can buy the product directly from the app. If the product doesn’t work for you, you can put it in a specified slot, and the item will be deleted from your virtual shopping cart.
Here’s How You Can Use Software To Enhance Your Mall Management Strategies
While hybrid retailing requires a technological intervention, other mall management strategies can benefit from digitization as well. For example, you can have interactive maps that tell a customer exactly where they need to go. You can also use mall management software to implement your loyalty programs. Finally, your backend operations will be fortified immensely with automation.
iTrobes is a software development company that can help you build a mall management system tailored to your needs. Our seasoned experts develop each piece of software from scratch, so it is as customizable as you need it to be. Write to us today to get started!
