Korum Malls Festive Kaleidoscope

Malls have become the new temples of Indian middle class and particularly during festive season they are nothing but a Mela, a place where fun and frolic is overflowing and entertainment is at its peak. We speak to one of the busiest and popular malls of the country to understand their plans for this festive season and what opportunities and growth does the season bring in for them?

“Business during the Festive season over the years has increased by around 20% YOY. The festive season business at KORUM is over 30% of the regular months. We expect a similar trend to continue this festive season as well. This Festive Season, we plan to provide an experience to the customer that is bigger and better than the previous years. We are looking at multiple initiatives that would be innovative and result in a better customer engagement, and increase in sales for our retail outlets.” shares Deva Jyotula, Center Head, Korum Mall.

Further on a lot of growth comes in due to the increasing importance of single holidays, sharing some consumer insights Deva says, “A key trend observed this season is that single day holidays like the Republic Day and Independence Day is gaining as much popularity as a Diwali day or a Dussehra day. A key reason could be increasing discounts offered by stores as well as retailers partnering with consumer goods companies to give better deals. KORUM Mall this Independence Day observed the largest footfall ever of 62,000 plus.”

So what are the specifics when it comes to KORUM malls festive plans, “We have always connected shopping with offers and entertainment thus making the process a truly gratifying experience. We ensure that we connect to the right target audience for our festive offers. We reach our target audience through various promotional activities, advertising and Public Relations, for example, the Gujarati population for Golden Dandiya, Maharashtrian population for Ganesh Chaturthi etc.  Target media for our promotional activities is also chosen accordingly. We also have a highly active social media community with over one lakh fan base.” highlights Deva.

The festive plans will be supported by a frivolous Visual merchandising initiative which will actually be the tangible flavor of the season giving out the VM details Deva says, “The event décor of the mall plays a key role in the festive season. We ensure that the entire decor and event set up are frequently changed. Taking into consideration the cost and feasibility, we bring in new and

Last year KORUM mall had installed the largest Kandil of the city during Diwali and the largest Christmas tree was made out of shopping bags along with the largest cake during the Christmas celebration. Along with the Visual merchandising team the operations team also gears up by ushering in freshness to the mall. “The operations department undertakes jobs like painting, polishing of floors, ensure décor is updated. Also, to improve on the customers experience, valet parking is added, music is changed as per the festive season. The vigilance also needs to be stepped up to manage extra footfalls.” Highlights Deva.

All this comes with an unwanted package of chaos and challenges which are tackled tactfully at Korum sharing the challenges Deva says, “One of the key challenges faced during festive season is that of safety and security as the footfalls increase during the season. We coordinate with local police to ensure that the vigilance is at its best. Another challenge faced in the availability of parking space for which we have additional valet parking and also ensure quick exits by  providing manual cash checkout counters. The traffic situation at the entry and exit is also managed with coordination with the traffic authorities.”

But each of these challenges feels a worthy war when the result is a booming footfall and growth. On this Independence Day, the mall experienced a daily footfall of more than 62,000. “This has been the highest observed so far. We expect to break this record in the coming festive season.  We also achieved our monthly ever footfalls in July of 7.25 lakh. August we crossed 7.33 lakhs with few more days left.” Hopes Deva.