Shibu Philips, director, Shopping Malls Lulu Group India, speaks about the group’s aggressive expansion plans, new success mantras for shopping malls and more…
Bengaluru: Lulu Group marked its entry into Telangana by opening its mall anchored by its hypermarket on 27 September with much fanfare. Inaugurated by Telangana IT and Industries Minister KT Rama Rao in the presence of Yusuff Ali M A, Chairman of Lulu Group, the mega shopping mall at Kukatpally, this project is a part of the Rs 500 crore investment that has Lulu committed to the state.
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But the Group does not stop at Telangana and has plans to venture into other states as well, informed Shibu Philips, director, Shopping Malls Lulu Group India in an exclusive interview, in which he also shared his views on other aspects of running successful shopping centres.
What should be the top priority for a shopping centre today?
Consumer behaviour and consumer experience should always be top priorities, because if a mall aims to be a destination, then the entire experience within the mall must be curated as per the consumer. Today, retail is not just about shopping, it is about the experience and the social space that consumers get, with Food & Beverage (F&B) taking centre stage.
Foodcourts today are giving a different experience by offering a wide variety. Restaurants curate the experiences in various ways so that a family can visit them a number of times.
In the post-pandemic era, we can get fashion, cinema (in the form of OTT) and food delivered to our homes, but we can’t get the experience. Therefore, F&B is turning out to be a major pull for malls. Today, F&B are even anchors.
Earlier, the area malls dedicated to the category was in single digit, today it has doubled or even tripled in new malls.
What works as anchors today?
F&B as anchor stores is definitely working. Anchor stores of several categories were one of the biggest trends a few years back. However, having too many anchor stores may not work very well for all malls. If the allocation of stores is done as a catchment, it still is a good strategy.
What’s your take on international brands versus Indian brands in a mall’s mix?
India now is Bharat and it has developed its own identity. There are lots of brands which are outperforming international brands with respect to per-square-foot performance. Indian brands now are here to stay, but that doesn’t mean we can give a cold shoulder to international brands. Even for international brands, just the name of the brand or being a foreign brand doesn’t give you a performance guarantee. If the catchment is ready for some of the international brands, one should definitely give them space.
Should malls focus on luxury?
Today, consumers understand premium fashion and consume it. Consumers in metro cities are ready for luxury. It’s a known fact that luxury in automobiles and gold is consumed fast.
Coming to luxury in fashion, for things like bags and others, it depends on cities where shopping is a culture. In places where large shopping malls have existed for the last two decades, people are ready for luxury shopping. It also depends on the economy, expenditure and consuming ability of the population.
When you go to tier 2 cities, all possible fashion categories can’t coexist because the opportunities to wear them are fewer. India has such a huge diversity, that it is not possible for everything to work everywhere. The definition of luxury in South India is completely different from that in the North East.
As a developer, we need to understand where we are launching a mall and whether it will become a luxury hotspot.
What are some of the new things at your malls?
Doing large-scale events is something I would like to mention. We did bigger events in Kochi Mall and have followed the same trend for both Trivandrum and Lucknow malls. This is one change which we have initiated after the pandemic.
We understand that customers today don’t come to a mall because you have done a good job in terms of leasing and retail mix. The mall needs to have an identity of its own and that is the top priority. It should have a one-to-one relationship with the customer, by creating such experiences. Experiences curated on the basis of customer needs will earn loyalty to the mall. The shopping mall today has to be rated as a destination not just as a place for shopping.
What change do you see from a brand’s perspective when opening a new store?
Brands are now asking for larger stores and also the circumstances of why they should be in that particular mall. They understand and have their reasons and they make their strategy accordingly. Data is available for both parties now, and brands also have a good percentage of business coming from online. So, they have a complete idea of consumer behaviour and needs.
Can you elaborate on the group’s expansion plans?
We are eyeing expansion in Chennai. We acquired land there and also in Ahmedabad. We are also coming up with six neighbourhood centres in Kerala. The Ahmedabad Mall has already been launched. After that, we will be doing two more malls in Kerala and the announcement will be made soon.
In addition, we are scouting for land in Delhi and Mumbai. If we get a nice parcel in these cities, and it works in our game plan, then we’ll definitely go there too.
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