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Abstract

Malls have been constantly evolving and changing in both style and substance in order to attract

increasingly aware and fickle consumers. There are numerous things that might affect shoppers

selection of a place to shop. The study in hand is an attempt in this direction with specific

reference to Indian context. The objective of this study was to identify the most prominent

marketing factors affecting selection of consumers with respect to shopping malls. Mall

intercept survey was conducted to identify the factors which influence the selection of shopping

malls in the city. The sample included 100 active mall shoppers. Total 5 variables, i.e.

Entertainment, Services, Ambiance, Promotions and Shopping were used which influence the

selection of shopping malls from consumer’s viewpoint were identified with a structured

questionnaire. Study will help the mall owners and the retail marketers to understand the

insights of shoppers that on which marketing technique consumers select the shopping malls

for shopping. On these bases, they can plan their strategies for shopping malls.

Objectives of the Study

Below mentioned are the objectives of my study:

● To develop a thorough understanding of different marketing tactics implemented by the
mall to get more footfall.
● To understand the role of marketing in mall management.
● To develop innovative marketing plans and practically implementing them.
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Chapter 1: Introduction

1.1 Defining Retail

Retail can be broadly defined as an activity of selling products directly to the final consumers

for the purpose of their own end consumption; rather than reselling. It is different from

wholesale because the sold goods involved in trade are in small quantities. The sale transaction

in retail usually happens through different selling mediums such as online stores, brick &

mortar store fronts, through direct selling, or through direct marketing.

In recent years, the expansion of organized retailing has initiated many revolutionary changes

in India and as a result various types of modern retail outlets started functioning in the country.

One such type of retail format is shopping mall. Within retail, shopping malls are large retail

complexes having varieties of stores, restaurants and other business establishments built in a

connected and enclosed format. According to the viewpoint of Pookulangara and Knight

(2013), shopping malls are expected to be frontrunners for the growth of organized retail in

India. Shopping mall is a group of retail business planned, developed, owned and managed as

a unit (Kotler & Armstrong, 2002). Nowadays, retail has become about place making. To be

successful in this, you have to offer some interesting, connected and convenient environment

where people wish to be. Only offers are not what a customer looks for while shopping, but

looks forward to an entire experience. Malls are the perfect places to give that edge to

customers. Also, they largely contribute to inter-connected businesses to bloom together. This

format of trade is competitive and at the same time dependent in nature. This can be best

understood by the case of a famous mall in Ghaziabad, Opulent mall. The center point that

joins all the businesses together in retail is marketing.

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1.2 Role of Marketing in Retail

Marketing is defined as a set of activities undertaken by a company to encourage the buying or

selling of a products or services. It includes advertising, selling, and delivering products to

consumers or other businesses. Marketers aim is to get the attention of potential audiences

through advertising. Promotions are mainly target oriented and focuses on a set of audiences

and can involve celebrity endorsements, taglines, innovative packaging or graphic designs.

Marketing as a discipline involves all the actions a company undertakes to get target costumers

and maintain good relationship with them.

At its most basic, main purpose of marketing is to match a company's products and services to

the expectations of a customer who are willing to buy those products. Fulfilling the needs of

the customers ensures profitability. As a result of globalization and expansion of markets, the

economies all over the world have evolved in the last one decade. This has made the decision

making of consumers a complex mechanism. In less developed nations like India, where people

had limited resources and choices for a large part of their civilization, this sudden burst of

opportunities has made the way for open marketing systems. Researchers and marketers have

shown utmost interest in the understanding of consumer decision making styles. They have

been doing so to develop knowledge about the shopping patterns of the consumers.

Product, price, place, and promotion are the Four Ps of marketing. The Four Ps broadly make

up the essential mix required by a company to market a product or service. Neil Borden

popularized the idea of the marketing mix and the concept of the Four Ps in the 1950s.

● Product

Product is defined as an item or items the company plans to offer to customers. The

product can be a new product to fulfil an absence in the market or an upgradation of an

already existing product to fulfill consumers demand for a better product. Before the
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marketer prepare a suitable campaign, they need to understand the product being sold,

how it is different from its competitors, whether the product is eligible to be paired with

a secondary product, and whether there are any alternative products in the market.

● Price

Price refers to how much the company will sell the product for. When deciding on the price,

companies must consider all the expenses, consider the prices of the competitions in

the marketplace and whether their proposed price point is sufficient to represent a

reasonable alternative for consumers.

● Place

Place refers to the distribution of the product. Key considerations include whether the

company will sell the product through a exclusive, selective or extensive distribution

channels.

● Promotion

Promotion refers to the integrated marketing communications campaign. Promotion

includes a different activity such as advertising, personal selling, PR, direct marketing,

sales promotions, and guerrilla marketing. Promotions varies depending on the stage of

the product life cycle the product is in. Marketers understand that consumers relate a

product’s price and distribution with its quality, and they take this into consideration

when formulating the overall marketing strategy.

1.3 About the Organization

● The Opulent Mall, Ghaziabad is a one stop shopping and entertainment destination for

all shopaholics in Ghaziabad.

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● It is a stylish, posh, vibrant, upscale, unique shopping and leisure environment in the

Heart of the City.

● It is the sister concern of "SVP Builders India Ltd" and "Ganesh Infra build Private

Limited" launched in March 2010.

● The architecture of the mall is designed by "Five Vision Promoters Pvt. Ltd".

● The Mall comprises of retail, entertainment, food court, PVR, spa etc.

● The mall offers booking of kiosk, signages, spot promotions, leasing of shops and

events.

1.4 Purpose of Study

The purpose of the study, “Marketing Dynamics in Retail” is to develop a thorough

understanding of the need to have dynamic marketing strategies in the retail sector. This

research will aim to fetch answers so as to why retail outlets such as malls, invests aggressively

in different marketing techniques. The purpose of the study will be fulfilled by the field work

done at The Opulent Mall, Ghaziabad.

1.5 Benefits of Marketing Dynamics

During the course of research, a marketing activity “Masti ki Pathshaala” was organized in the

Opulent Mall, Ghaziabad. It was a month-long summer camp for kids of the age group 5-8

years and 9-12 years. It was observed in the study that the footfall of the mall was increased.

The parents accompanying their kids were provided with shopping and food court vouchers

and as a result, this increased the sale in the food court as well as in the stores.
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The benefits of marketing dynamics in retail are:

● Increases the footfall in the mall.

● Increases the brand value of the mall.

● The overall sales in the stores increases.

1.6 Challenges in Marketing Dynamics

The coinciding industries, complex expectations of the customers, and a highly competitive

business environment are forcing many brick-and-mortar stores to the point of extinction.

Although the industry is expected to become $5.5 trillion by 2020, the gaining popularity and

the convenience of e-commerce means retailers now need to up their game and address the

demands of modern customers. Now, customers are controlling their experiences – shopping

when its most convenient for them, using their own choice of channel.

There are many challenges faced by the retail industry; below mentioned are some of them:

● Ensuring Consistency in Merchandising

The changing demand for new products, lack of shelf space and flexibility, and

conflicting interests of topmost management all affect merchandising in a great way.

To succeed in today’s hyper-competitive market, retailers not only have to sell

products, but also focus on offering outstanding in-store experiences. Since effective

merchandising is a great factor for the in-store experience, the dynamic character of the

retail market and the volatility of consumer behaviour makes it increasingly difficult

for merchandisers in maintaining required clarity and consistency.

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● Mastering Pricing Strategy

With consumers now in a position to check aggressive pricing in real time, it’s critical

that stores have a method that tracks and adapts pricing to broader market forces.

According to Statista, 93 percentage of purchasers uses different offers such as

discounts, coupons, or promotions, which makes pricing extraordinarily dynamic.

Retailers are below pressure to assess a selection of different information points to build

and execute their pricing strategy, specifically when there are dramatic changes in

demand or competitive promotions from competitors hit the marketplace. If retailers do

not effectively orchestrate prices throughout channels, it can cause inconsistency and a

poor brand experience.

● Providing Personalized, Omni-channel Experiences

The manner that people shop has changed dramatically. Now, consumers search

products on their smartphones, go to a retail store for trying the products, view

promotions on dynamic in-store signage, after which decide whether or not to buy the

product. Providing customized omni-channel stories throughout in-store, online,

cellular, IoT, and social apps is a present-day necessity that daunts retailers worldwide.

According to the National Retail Federation, although retailers apprehend

personalization as a pinnacle problem, many struggles with ultimate the personalization

gap. Now, outlets want to efficaciously decipher patron and business facts in real time

to deliver a customized experience that engages shoppers and inspires them to buy

throughout channels.

● Tracking and Predicting Customer Behavior

Now that customers have more shopping options than ever, retailers want to constantly

study demand, seasonal traits, and also cart abandonment to determine how nice to put
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markdowns and promotions to increase income and maximize margin. Retailers need

to continuously make adjustments – from modifications in pricing, to product

presentation and sequencing – to pressure conversions and align purchaser desires with

commercial enterprise desires.

● Responding Quickly to Changes

One of the most important challenges for retailers to stay competitive and applicable is

their capacity to stay agile and preserve up with hastily converting markets, customers

choices, and technology. If retailers don’t act fast, they can lose the game to competition

who embrace emerging technology to provide revolutionary experiences to the

consumer and modes of engagement.

Retailers are underneath enormous strain to set the stage for long-term competitive

advantages using agile platforms for consumer’s experience, real-time integration

primarily based on microservices, and an AI layer which could support the entire

business with insights and permit movements across the whole consumer journey. As

we enter an era of AI-enabled chatbots, digital private assistants and IoT devices,

retailers have to plan new models for consumer engagement and consumer interaction.

1.7 The Answer to Marketing Dynamics Challenges

Consumer behaviour around the world keeps fluctuating continuously. The businesses have to

constantly work on maintaining their standards high if they need to entice clients and maintain

their function in the marketplace. Due to stiff opposition exerted through non-traditional

competition, customer’s expectations have increased. This requires businesses to remain linked

with the clients as no longer doing so should prove crucial to the business.
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World marketplace leaders in unison have felt the need to understand the complex, real people

referred to as customers for attaining fulfilment in any enterprise. However, growing a one to

one dating with customers is not easy as it is said, mainly for those big sized commercial

enterprise houses and multinationals having millions of customers and offices scattered world

over. This requires ideal alignment of various departments global over at the side of paying

minute interest to the slightest requirement of the humans whom they serve.

Getting closer to the customers to understand their demand can be achieved only by accepting

fresh and newer ideas and by using this newly acquired knowledge during adverse situations

and more so with intuition. This must be a continuous evolving process rather than only on

required basis. This will not only help to meet the customers requirement as and when they

undergo change but also help to make the organization more adaptable for change.

The below mentioned market research trends for the year of 2016 signifies the need of

organizations to become more dynamic by adopting newer technologies to target the

millennium consumers to sustain effortlessly in the modern era:

● Shift in Market Spending will be seen calling for adoption of newer technology

With the cutting-edge technology always bent toward computers, cellular or video, adoption

of more modern technology to keep tab on the more youthful consumers will become

inevitable to now not simplest seize them but additionally to make them respond to the

classified ads on those cutting-edge devices.

● Position based marketing or advertising

Position based advertising or marketing would be centre of attraction in the coming

year because the present-day era does not believe in shopping for the things that isn't

of relevance to them. Hence the trend in market research would be to focus on these
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customers via providing a function based totally discount or sale. Say as an example

offering discounts while the young customers are in malls or stores.

● The new shopping mantra – purchase anything where and at any time you want

Consumers wish to get things immediately. They also expect the product they buy to

meet their requirements i.e. custom made. This acts as a threat for traditional businesses

in the market arena as they are not ready for changes.

The only solution to attract and retain customers in this time of dynamic changing

market would be by undergoing a thorough market research initiative to understand

prospective buyers who buy anything, anywhere, anytime. The clever prospects of the

21st century firstly do their surveys online and then buy products from stores or they

first do price comparison in stores and then go for online purchases.

Other than the above market research possibilities, huge amount of data too poses as a

big barrier for market research. Not only this, the rapidly increasing demand of video

consumption, directly increases the advertising/market cost thus putting more pressure

on businesses. The only way to minimize the various barrier of customers challenges

is by resorting to adoption of the innovative, advanced and latest technology to conduct

market research as only this determines the survival of the best in the market research

industry.
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Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

Nelson, 1958 in his research paper has defined Shopping mall as a group of retail business

planned, developed, owned and managed as a unit. Shopping malls are developed on ‘principle

of cumulative attraction’ according to which cluster of similar but complementary retail outlets

have greater drawing power over the geographically dispersed outlets. In the initial years of

their life cycle, shopping malls worked primarily as economic entities that offer a wide array

of stores and merchandise to consumers at a single location. However, to meet the changes in

consumers’ needs, desires, values and lifestyles, the malls have passed through continuous

adaptations in terms of their marketing mix and the strategies pertaining to them. They have

quite understood the need for aggressive and dynamic marketing strategies. According to the

current competitive scenario, it is almost impossible to have permanent / stagnant marketing

undertakings.

Finn and Louviere (1996) in their study discovered six dimensions, namely merchandise,

atmosphere, services, accessibility, anchor tenant and trendiness. In the views of Rajagopal

(2009), shopping malls could attract higher customer traffic on the basis of the ambience, stores

assortment, sales promotions and comparative economic gains.

The four general ideas behind any mall’s dynamic marketing are as follows:

Keeping it Fun: Simply refers to the idea of being new and interesting every time. Attracting

customers and then disappointing them with irrelevant marketing propositions is never the key

for successful retail operations. Instead the mall as a retail hub must be innovative and engaging

in terms of its marketing agendas.

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Highlight Promotions & Giveaways: it is imperative to understand that the customers engage

easily to simpler offers such as giveaways and promotions that are highlighted and are simple

to understand. The mall can make use of announcements, visual signages and other media

channels to elevate the visibility of their major offers.

General Targeting: the propositions should be general in nature in order to reach out to

maximum number of people. This will also help in more customer involvement and interest.

Build up Excitement: going back to first point, excitement is the key. The mall should open

on an excited scale. More the build-up, more will be the reaction of customers over the

propositions. This will also reach out to more people through mouth-to-mouth publicity.
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Chapter 3: Research Methodology

3.1 Research Methodology

The data was collected by the help of a self-designed questionnaire, which was divided into

two parts- the first part aimed at garnering the information related to demographic

characteristics of the respondents. The demographic variables about which the details were

collected include gender, age and marital status. The second part contained various statements

related to the perception of the respondents towards selection of shopping malls on different

parameters. The statements were framed on the basis of relevant research papers. In all, there

were … such statements which were framed. The respondents were asked to rate these …

statements on a five-point scale, where 1 mean strongly disagree and 5 means strongly agree.

To ensure the content validity, these statements were shown to subject experts and retail

marketers and after their consent total 100 responses were collected through personal contacts

and online survey forms.