Talking Shop

Imagine driving into a self-contained, insulated shopping area with valet parking and for the next two hours shunning the daily humdrum completely. Then stack the world in a buying orgy. Tired doing that? Munch a hamburger at the food court or hang loose at the video parlour. You are a family with varied passions? That's even better. Just split up and do your own thing. You do have a melange of alternatives and choices. If shopping makes you dizzy, saunter into the multiplex movie theatre or chill out at the ice-hockey arena instead, while the kids party at the funzone. Come evening, meet at the atrium and dine out at the bistro. Forget hours of pounding the pavement, looking for that perfect gift. Buying things has never been so much fun.

Welcome to the world of shoppertainment. As disposable incomes rise and leisure time declines in the frenetic go-go world of urban India, realtors are laying the foundations of a grand convergence of realty, retail and entertainment. "The one-stop malls with shopping, entertainment and food thrown in are becoming the basic need of the day, " says Pranay Sinha, senior manager, retail and leisure advisory at Jones Lang LaSalle (jll). "There is a thirst in the market and the malls will quench that."

That mall-mania is the next free-market deluge approaching our megapolises is obvious: India will have over 22 malls in the next two years, up from a paltry three today - Crossroads in Mumbai, Spencer Plaza in Chennai and Delhi's Ansals. A study by consultants ksa Technopack predicts that nearly five million square feet of retail space will be developed in the same time. It insists that by 2005 new retail place development will leapfrog to all of seven million square feet. Over 20 developers will pump in over Rs 1,000 crore to set up these sleek brick-and-mortar leisure and shopping centres.

And the way urban India is flocking to these malls - 10,000 to 20,000 visitors are visiting them daily on weekdays, and during weekends the throng is anything between 20,000 and 35,000 - the promoters have been spurred to go the whole hog. Indians, it seems, have begun warming up to the idea of shoppertainment. "Malls have given shopping a whole new meaning," says Radhika Rangan, a public relations manager with a Chennai-based software company, who loves to mall hop. "Shopping becomes a social occasion, a festival with friends and families."

Time and leisure-starved upwardly mobile Indians like Rangan need not despair. A shoppertainment bonanza awaits them as new players hop on to the mall bandwagon to snare the new consumerist shopaholic urbanite (see graphic).

That's not all. Established players are on an expansion spree as well. Like E-Zone, an entertainment complex and shopping mall promoted by Mumbai's hottest name in shoppertainment, the 1.2 lakh square-foot Crossroads. E-Zone will boast of a cineplex, a health club, food courts and a shopping plaza. Crossroads is also planning eight new shopping junctions in the Mumbai suburbs and in Bangalore, Delhi, Calcutta and Chennai. Or the Chennai-based, 7-lakh square-foot Spencer Plaza, which is intending a Rs 60-crore, 3 lakh square-foot expansion to incorporate a 'funtainment arena' into the mall by March 2002. Wild West, a Rs 200-an-hour theme parlour for pool, snooker and billiards, has already set the balls rolling. Up next are cybercafes and a Sega video game parlour.

In Delhi, Ansal Properties and Industries Limited, riding on the success of its 1.6 lakh sq foot, Rs 250-crore Ansal Plaza, is planning two more malls - the first would definitely be in east of Delhi, while client-insistence could lead to the second in Gurgaon. The Mumbai-based Hiranandanis, who already own the Haiko supermarket, are planning a 3 lakh sq-foot mall with a family entertainment complex, multiplexes and a departmental store at Powai. The Zee group, through its subsidiary E-Citi Entertainment, is also mulling over a shoppertainment blitzkrieg. Ditto the SKumars Group and the pharma-major Lupin Lab. The latter intends to give shape to its plans through its real estate arm Landmarc Builders. Also in the fray are the K. Raheja group, owner of the Shoppers' Stop chain, and Gammon India. In Bangalore, Kirloskar Systems is tying up with nri businessman Purnendu Chatterjee for a similar project. And if the grapevine is to be believed, old economy titans Godrej, Mahindra Realty & Infrastructure Developers Ltd (mridl), the Vikram Thapar Group and Reliance have also thrown themselves into this mad 'brick-and-mortar' scramble.

But behind this zealous surge is also another subtle factor: the freeing of large chunks of idle industrial land in prime locations, which had hitherto been sites for dead industries. This has been the case, particularly in Mumbai. In upper Worli alone, some 60 lakh sq feet of sunset textile industry land is lying vacant, and is being eyed by realtors for mall sites.

Surveys indicate that the consumer prefers shoppertainment malls over the grubby streetcorner mom-and-pop shops and crowded 'high-street' neighbourhood markets. For one, the ksa Consumer Outlook 2000 study says shoppers are increasingly choosing "all under one roof" destinations. More interestingly, some 88 per cent shoppers said the "range of products" made them gravitate towards self-contained shopping centres. And 75 per cent of them felt the "eating and entertainment option" was the decisive element. Realtors are also pleased with the fact that shopping solo has gone out of fashion in urban India. The ksa study observes that 33 per cent of shopping takes place with the entire family and/or relatives; 21 per cent with spouse and 10 per cent with friends. "You can shop, eat and freak out at the movies and bowling alleys under one roof in a mall. Where else can you get this unbeatable combination?" says Calcutta-based filmmaker Judhajit Sarkar.

BUT the most interesting revelation is that the character of the Indian middle class seems to have completely morphed. From being conservative consumers, firmly convinced about the virtues of being closefisted and singing paeans to the necessary art of saving, the members of this class are becoming aggressive consumers riding piggyback on the plastic money invasion. Their new motto, reflected at one end by global speculative 'hot money' flows and reinforced at the other by TV game shows: 'greed is good'.

The marriage between shopping and entertainment was bound to happen. And its consummation will, in all probability, result in a burgeoning Rs 1,000-crore-worth family entertainment industry over the next five years, predicts an industry estimate.

No wonder, Megabowl is planning to set up 20 family entertainment centres across the country in 24 months flat, up from three today. Sanjay Chhabra, the company MD, is keen that these centres form 'magnets' in malls - he has already tied up with shoppertainment projects at Nagpur, Delhi and Mulund in Mumbai, and is even open to an alliance with pvr and other similar anchors.

It makes perfect sense for promoters to cram shopping and entertainment in brightly lit, airconditioned megaspaces. The Colliers Jardine research group claims every minute spent in a mall goes to a "higher realisation per sq foot." With over 50 per cent gross profit margins flowing in from leisure and food and beverage, it makes eminent sense for developers to diversify.

Some promoters build the mall and then sell space. Others get into joint ventures with retailers and even take up the management of the mall. Still others manage the mall and get involved in some retailing and entertainment aspects. The last seems to be the best option. The Piramals, for example, run the departmental store Piramyd and an entertainment arena - Jammin' - at their Crossroads shopping mall. Even Landmarc Leisure Corporation, a subsidiary of SKumars Group, intends to operate the entertainment complex at the group's upcoming Landmarc Citi chain in Worli, Mumbai. Avers ksa Technopack manager Asitava Sen: "Those who manage to do retail, family entertainment, and sell food and beverage are able to capture a bigger share of the consumers' wallet."

Retailers don't seem to be skittish about getting crowded out in a diversified space. K. Dasaratharaman, ceo, Musicworld - the fast growing chain of mega music stores, two of which are located within malls at Delhi and Chennai - says that buying a music tape or CD can either be a planned or an on-the-spot decision. "So we do benefit in a mall where the average number of daily visitors is high and there are a lot of floating customers." Agrees Harit Nagpal, VP operations, Shoppers' Stop: "Shopping is a source of pampering oneself. There could be so many reasons for consumers to choose a store in a mall."

But snaring the customers away from intimate mom-and-pop stores and utilitarian neighbourhood markets will require more than glitzy brand stores and loads of entertainment. For one, Indian malls and supermarkets are strapped for car parking space. The upshot: mayhem and frayed tempers among visitors in congested car parks. Many customers are cross with Crossroads restricting entry into its upscale mall in Tardeo, south Mumbai, by charging those visitors Rs 60 who don't own a cellphone, a club membership, credit card, student ID card or frequent flyer card. Indian shoppertainment junctions also suffer from slow-moving till queues and overpricing of items. "There are a lot of items with inflated prices meant predominantly for a foreign clientele. This is a major turn-off for Indian shoppers," says Chennai-based human resources consultant V. Srinivasan. Most importantly, though consumer spending is increasing in India, it remains pretty low compared to the Far East. Says Angshuman Magazine, MD (South Asia) of CB Richard Ellis, a real estate consultant: "How many malls will survive on just foreign brands remains to be seen."

Still, it's about time that Indians began immersing themselves in this ocean of hedonism that shoppertainment promises. As Nagpal of Shoppers' Stop says, "Today's browsers are tomorrow's customers." In the largely arid world of Indian shopping, the excitement is about to begin.