ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

A special gratitude we give to Dr. Subrat Sahu, Ph. D, whose contribution in stimulating
suggestions and encouragement, helped us to coordinate our research especially in writing
this report. We are also thankful to the management of School of Petroleum Management,
Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University, Gandhinagar, for kindly granting us permission to
undertake our research.
We would like to express our deepest appreciation to all those who provided us the
possibility to complete this report. We would also like to thank and express our sense of
gratitude to all those respondents who gave their valuable time in responding to our
questions.
We are grateful to our family members for their constant encouragement and support during
this project.

Jai Bakliya (20141026)

Jay Oza (20141027)
Maulik Patel (20141032)
Parth Parekh (20141045)
Parth Panchal (20141046)
Pratik Naker (20141052)
Vivek Mehta (20141073)

Abstract
In our research project we have attempted to provide an in-depth understanding of the various
factors that contribute to successful shopping mall management. Our research is based on the
Quantitative research methodology. Based on secondary sources of similar research projects
undertaken by other market researchers, we identified variables and factors that are pivotal to
our study.
The first step involved in our research is Data Collection based on the questionnaire-survey
technique. A pilot project was first undertaken and based on it, we added some more
questions into our questionnaire that would help understand the specifics concerning our
research. A sample size of 68 has been taken. Descriptive Research is the methodology of
research type that we have undertaken. The crude data that we obtained was edited and coded
and an in-depth analysis of our data was undertaken by means of the SPSS software. The
interpretation of our result has been included.
Our research results will enable investors and managers to understand the various nuances
and factors that should be taken into consideration when they manage malls. The products
and service expectation that consumers possess from a particular mall are very detrimental to
a malls fate.

Table of Content
1. Introduction and Motivation

04

2. Research Objective and Question

06

3. Background

07

3.1. Literature review

07

3.2. Hypothesis

08

4. Research Design

09

4.1. Research analysis

09

4.2. Data Collection

09

4.3. Sampling Design

09

5. Result and Data analysis

10

6. Conclusion

17

References

18

Annexure
1. Questionnaire
2. Factor Correlation Matrix

Introduction and Motivation

Since their inception in the 1950s, malls have become an integral and important component
to the organized retail sector. It is estimated that the global organized retail sector would be
worth $637 billion and shopping malls contribute significantly to it. Malls are
establishments that comprise of a large number of shops, recreational facilities and
restaurants that provide for a unique shopping experience. Malls are opened in city areas as
they help attract large crowds. However, with recession hitting USA in 2008, the mall
business took a beating, unable to recover their investments, the day-to-day operation of
malls proved to be a challenge (General Growth Properties that owned more than 200 malls
in the United States filed for bankruptcy in 2009) Thinning consumer traffic, anaemic sales
and high vacancy rendered many malls unprofitable and finally many of the malls closed
down.
As a thumb rule, a mall is labelled as successful if it manages to generate revenues of $381
and above per square foot of its total area. With the mall business booming, many new
players have entered the market making competition stiff. With so many options now at the
disposal of consumers for shopping (e-commerce and other rival shopping malls) patronage
and sustainability are the key factors. Consumer retention is proving to be a huge challenge
for these malls. So identifying the key components that would contribute to the making of a
unique shopping experience are of prime importance for the profitability of malls.
Ahmedabad has taken significant strides in the last 10 years. Brand awareness and luxury
shopping have played pivotal roles in the urbanization of the mainstream society. Weekends
unlike any other days of the week see a huge crowd attendance in malls. So what makes
certain malls click while others fail to make any impact whatsoever? Many malls like the
Alpha One mall and the Iskon Mall manage to attract large crowds and have proven to be
very profitable.
Through our research analysis, it will be clear as to what factors contribute to the success of a
mall and which factors are of utmost importance that contribute to a wonderful consumer
shopping experience.

Research Objectives:

To find out various factors that contributes to the success of a mall.

To determine the various expectations that consumers have from malls that make up
for a worthy shopping experience.
To examine the steps taken by successful mall administrations to address the various
glitches as experienced by prospective shoppers

Research Questions:
1. What are the prime factors that set apart successful malls from unsuccessful ones?
2. Do present facilities provided by successful malls guarantee future success too?

Background
Literature Review
(Srivastava, 2012)
The consumer perception on shopping malls is segregated based on whether they have a
utilitarian or hedonic view. The utilitarian view seeks reduced needs satisfaction over states
of deprivation. The hedonic view desires for satisfaction of senses surpassing those of basic
needs e.g. gratification, laughter, quest for novelty etc. The basic understanding of these 2
views has helped deduce some concrete factors that have a direct impact of successful mall
management.
Utilitarian views:- (R.K.Shrivastava, 2008)
Consumers may be attracted to a particular shopping centre because of the existence of
special store that appeals to them. Anchor shops have a huge consumer drawing power, in
case of consumers with a utilitarian view. Non-anchor shops also have an impact over these
consumers buying behaviour nut to a lesser extent.
Comparative shopping is also an important aspect ruling utilitarian buying. Small gift shops,
music stores, supermarkets etc. facilitate comparative buying. A cluster/agglomerate of such
speciality stores has a direct relationship with consumer attractiveness. To reduce the time
and cost related to travelling consumers may want to shop from these clusters of shops.
Hedonic benefits:Researchers may be so absorbed in understanding consumer buying patterns that the
emotional experiences a consumer my have during shopping may not be given much priority
in terms of research and understanding Shopping may be done for emotional and
experimental reasons. To capitalize on these aspects, mall managers may organize events
preluding to a grand opening or launch of a new shop etc. Malls have been known to provide
an atmosphere of climatic control, serenity and comfort from the outside traffic and noise.
Some shoppers may be interested in seeing new items and learning about new trends;
others may go shopping in their leisure time . Malls provide for rich experiences of social
experience. (M.J.Arnold, 2003)
Consumer Shopping trends in malls in India:- (P.sinha, 2003)
With 1.2 billion people in India, the mall business has tremendous potential. Many new malls
have opened up in India providing a rich consumer buying experience. Researchers have been
exploring the consumer visit to malls based on shopping style orientations. shopper boredom
which encourages out-shopping, sustainability of shopping malls in India, in context of Gen
Y, shopper attributes and retail format, and consumer decision making styles. These re the
areas of research currently going on in India, however, a lot remains to be done in this regard.

Research Hypothesis:
1. H0 Location is a significant factor that leads to the success of any mall.
H1 Location is not a significant factor that leads towards success.
2. H0 Parking facility leads a mall towards success.
H1 Parking is not an important for the success of mall.
3. H0 Infrastructure is an important factor for any successful mall.
H1 Infrastructure is not so important for the success of a mall.
4. H0 Availability of multiple products and services under one roof is one factor that
leads towards success.
H1- Availability of multiple products and services under one roof is not important for
Successful mall
5. H0 Security factor is also an important for success.
H1 Security factor is not an important for success.

Research Design:
This research methodology includes 4 steps. In first step we identify the various factors
related to successful mall using literature review and pilot study. In second step we develop
an instrument for data collection tool. Then in next step we interpret and analyse the data
using appropriate statistical tool. In last stage we validate the model as an outcome of an
analysis.
In this research we use three types of research study-exploratory and descriptive. Exploratory
is use for finding out the factors that affect the successful mall from the pilot study and the
literature review. Descriptive research is used to know the consumers perception and their
view on that factors.

Data Collection: Primary data has been collected by survey method using structured
questionnaires from mall customer to study the perception on various factors, numeric
comparative scale is used. Secondary data is collected has been collected from Google, mall
websites, available etc.

Sampling design:
Target population:
Mall- in our study our population is all the successful mall which is exists for at least 1 year.
Shopper Age between 18- 60 years, visits malls at least once a month a resident of
Ahmedabad or Gandhinager for more than 1 year
Sampling Unit
A mall in Ahmedabad and Gandhinager
Shopper who visits a mall
Sample Size
Number of Shoppers selected from each mall (A) = 20
Number of malls selected (B) = 03
Number of respondent from Mall = 60
Number of respondent from Online survey = 8
Hence total number of shoppers selected for the survey (35 x 03) =68
Sampling technique
For selecting the malls, cluster sampling followed by convenience sampling has been used.
Systematic sampling was employed for selecting the respondent. More than 50 respondents
have been selected for the survey. Respondents have been surveyed using Time location
cluster sampling technique. This is necessitated by the fact that most of the malls have
different respondent segments visiting at different times. For examples housewives visit the
malls mostly between 11.00am to 3.00pm, students from 4.00pm to 7.00pm and families
from 7.00pm to 10.00pm.Similarly different locations in a mall are visited by different
segments. For example, grocery area is visited by mostly middle age people, movies again by
families, music shops by the young.
9

Data Analysis and Result:

The survey was conducted over 68 respondent residents of Gandhinagar as well as
Ahmedabad from around 4 malls from the close vicinity as per the convenience.

With the sample of over 68 respondents around 26 % were female and 75 % were male.
The respondents age varying from 20 to 30 years were 64.71 % , between 30-50 years were
23.53% and above 50 were 11.76%.

The occupation of respondent analysed:- 14%

of them were Govt. employee, 22.06% were
Businessman, 23.53% were private employee,
5% were housewife, and 33.82% were
students out of the total survey.

10

How do you often visit a mall?

This question is asked to get the information related to how often people visit the mall with
different purpose. Out of the 68 respondent 55.88% means almost half of the people visit
weekly and 33.82% people visit monthly and rest 10.29% visit 5-8 times in a year.

Product/ Service diversity

11

This question is get to know the information related to hoe many people prefer products
(apparels, electronics, gifts) or services (saloon, gaming, food). Out of 68 respondent 55.88%
people are go for products while 44.12% people are go for services.

This question is get to how the income of respondent because it is directly proportional their
spending on shopping. Out of 68 respondent 40.30% people are student so they dont have
earning, while 6% people have their income between 50,000-1, 00,000. 9% people have their
income between 100000-200000, while 31.34% people have their income in 2,00,0005,00,000 and 13.34% people have their income more than 5,00,000.

12

This question is get to know that people are willing to go how much far for their shopping in
malls. Out of 68 respondents 29.41% people are willing to go 0-2 km while 33.82% people
are willing to go up to 2-4 km while 20.59% people are willing to go 4-10 km and 16.18%
people are willing to go more than 10km for their shopping.

13

The data is collected in the form of score on five point Likert type scale through individual
interview using a questionnaire from 70 respondents. The collected data from the
questionnaires were filter out for missing values, duplication and other anomalies, finally 172
data points were used for the analysis. Based on the value of the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin
Measure of Sampling Adequacy (KMO = 0.541) and chi-square value of the Bartletts test of
Sphericity (Chi-sq = 350.9 with degree of freedom = 171), which shows the degree of
common variance among the variables, Factor analysis technique is undertaken to explain the
covariance relationships among the factors for choosing the mall.
KMO and Bartlett's Test
Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy.
Bartlett's Test of Sphericity

Initial

.541

Approx. Chi-Square

350.914

Df

171

Sig.

.000

Component

Extraction
1

Shopping

1.000

.515

Dinning

1.000

.543

shopping

.644

.103

.299

Movies

1.000

.393

dinning

.125

.342

.641

Gaming

1.000

.315

movies

.162

.581

.171

Hangout

1.000

.250

gaming

-.205

.492

.175

Apparel

1.000

.476

hangout

-.238

.356

-.258

Electronics

1.000

.490

apparel

.510

.321

-.335

supermarket

1.000

.327

electronics

.044

.688

-.119

Giftshop

1.000

.401

supermarket

.560

-.057

.100

Foodcourt

1.000

.645

giftshop

.186

.470

.381

Cinema

1.000

.400

foodcourt

-.310

.391

.629

Gamezone

1.000

.457

cinema

.162

.611

.014

Ambience

1.000

.663

gamezone

-.106

.666

.056

Infra

1.000

.356

ambience

.756

-.016

-.303

Parking

1.000

.100

Infra

.596

.010

.028

Location

1.000

.349

Parking

.206

.003

.241

no of shops

1.000

.393

Location

.570

-.009

.157

no of shops

.504

.120

.353

1.000

.314

public transport

.368

.422

-.004

1.000

.378

Security

.096

-.159

.586

public
transport
Security

Extraction Method: Principal

Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.

Component Analysis.

Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser

Normalization.a
a. Rotation converged in 5 iterations.

14

For our research, 19 factors have been found to enrich the consumer shopping experience.
These 19 factors have been reduced to 3 parent factors between which all 19 factors have
been divided.
This parent factor can be called:

Factor 1
Factor 2
Factor 3

Factor 1:Service atmosphere and physical evidence are an established part of the marketing strategy.
Consumers wish to shop in a pleasant atmosphere. Factor 1 may be one factor for attracting
consumers. The items located in this factor with their factor loadings are shopping(0.644),
apparel( 0.51), ambience(0.56), supermarket( 0.756), infra( 0.596), location(0.57)
and no of shops(0.504). Indian Consumers visit malls just because they may be getting
good infrastructure, ambience and many brands under one roof which increases their
shopping experience.
Factor 2:The second factor which attract the customers are entertainment. the items included in second
factor are movies(0.581), gaming(0.492), hangout(0,356), electronics(0.688), gift
shop(0.47), cinema(0.611), game zone(0.666) and public transport(0.422). From this it
can be inferred that consumers visiting malls for movies also want other hedonic experiences
like gaming, buying electronic items, gifting, and visiting cinemas.
Factor 3:Factors included in factor 3 include dining(0.641), food court visits(0.691),
parking(0.241) and security (0.586). It can be explained that consumers coming to malls
for a dining experience expect a good parking facility and a good security cover.
Hypothesis test:

One-Sample Statistics
N

Mean

Std. Deviation

Std. Error Mean

Parking

68

3.765

1.1345

.1376

Ambience

68

3.750

1.1509

.1396

Infra

68

4.162

.9402

.1140

Location

68

4.206

.9706

.1177

no of shops

68

3.912

1.1811

.1432

public transport

68

3.162

1.1921

.1446

Security

68

3.882

1.1658

.1414

15

One-Sample Test
Test Value = 4
95% Confidence Interval of the
Difference
t

df

Sig. (2-tailed)

Mean Difference

Lower

Upper

parking

-1.710

67

.092

-.2353

-.510

.039

ambience

-1.791

67

.078

-.2500

-.529

.029

infra

1.419

67

.161

.1618

-.066

.389

location

1.749

67

.085

.2059

-.029

.441

no of shops

-.616

67

.540

-.0882

-.374

.198

-5.798

67

.000

-.8382

-1.127

-.550

-.832

67

.408

-.1176

-.400

.165

public transport
security

For our research we test various hypothesis using the t-test and based on their results we
judge whether the factor really affect the success of mall or not. For our research hypothesis
we decided 95% confidence level which means our = 0.05
First hypothesis for our research is parking affect the success of a mall. P-tab for this
hypothesis is 0.092. Which means that null hypothesis is accepted. So, we say that parking is
one factor that affects the successful mall.
Second hypothesis for our research is infrastructure of mall is one factor that affects the mall.
P tab for this hypothesis is 0.161. So, null hypothesis is accepted and we can say that
infrastructure affect the success of mall.
Third hypothesis is location play important role in success of any mall. P-tab for this
hypothesis is 0.085 which means our null hypothesis is accepted. It is one factor that affects
the success of any mall.
Fourth hypothesis is no. of shops leads to success of mall P-tab of this factor is 0.54 which
means null hypothesis is accepted and we say that it play important role in success of mall.
Fifth hypothesis is security affect the success P-tab is 0.408 which means null hypothesis is
accepted and it became one factor for success.
Last hypothesis is public transport necessary for success of mall. P-tab is 0.00 means null
hypothesis is rejected and it not play any role in success of any mall.

16

Conclusion
Our research on the essentials of successful mall management was carried out and with its
analysis we were able to deduce certain pivotal reasons that affect consumer shopping
experience and have a direct relationship with consumer expectations for a good shopping
experience. There were 19 important factors in all which were reduced to 3 parent factors
comprising of all 19 sub-factors i.e. super-markets, food court and location of the malls. In
factor 1, super-market, factor 2: electronics and in factor 3: dining were found to be of
highest priority expectations from mall service providers which directly impact its success.
Product diversity and service diversity were found to be of equal importance for consumers.
Demographic profiles of consumers included the young population i.e. 20-30 were more
predominantly frequent visitors of malls. Their frequency of visiting was found to be on a
weekly basis.
All but one of our null hypotheses was supported. Public Transportation was not regarded as
a requisite that determined for a good shopping experience and hence its alternative
hypothesis was found to be true.
From our research we were also able to determine that wife services and mobile transaction
services were also on the consumers list of expectations.
Limitations:

Our main limitation is sample size. We only examine 70 respondents which may not
cover all the population.
Our survey was carried out in only Ahmedabad area which is not applicable in other
region of Gujarat.
We are not able to cover all the demographic group due to less sample size which is
one of the limitation of this research.

17

References
M.J.Arnold. (2003). Hedonic shopping motivations. Journel of Retailing, 75-79.
P.sinha. (2003). Shopping Orientation in the Evolving Indian Market. Vikpla Vol.28, 132-133.
R.K.Shrivastava. (2008). Changing retail scene in india". International Journal of Retail & Distribution
Management, 714-721.
Srivastava, R. (2012). MALL MOTIVATIONS IN INDIA. The International Journal of Social Science, 86.

18

Annexure 1: SHOPPING MALL SURVEY Questionnaire

Dear Respondent,
We are conducting a survey on Understanding the essentials of successful mall
management. We have prepared a questionnaire which comprises of questions that would
enable us to understand the various nuances of our study. We invite you to participate in
our research by answering to the questions mentioned in the survey. The information
provided by you will remain confidential and will only be used as an aggregate in our
research analysis. There will be no scope for malpractice as the information provided by
you will remain discreet and coded. At any point during your participation if you wish to
you can withdraw. It would be highly appreciable and helpful if the inputs provided by
you would be authentic and true.

Name of Person completing this Survey:..

1) Gender

o
o

Male
Female

2) Occupation of Respondent

o
o
o
o
o
o

Govt. Employee
Bussinesman

Private Employee
Housewife
Student
Other

3) Income Of respondent (yearly)

o
o
o
o
o

None

100000- 200000
200000-500000
Above 500000
50000- 100000

19

4) Age of the respondent:

30-50
>50
20-30

5) How often do you visit a mall?

o
o
o

Monthly
Weekly

5-8 times a Year

6) What is the single most important attribute of a mall?

o
o

Product Diversity
Service Diversity

7) On a scale of 1 to 5 please rate the following options in terms of preference of importance(

where 1 equals to Not at all important and 5 equals to very Important)

Shopping

Dining

Movies

Gaming

Hangout

20

8) Please Rate the Following qualities in terms of their importance of choosing the mall where
1 equals to not at all important and 5 equals very importance.

Ambience

Infrastructure

Parking

Location

Number of shops

Public Transport

Security

9) How much cash on an average do you spend during a single visit to a mall?

o Less
than 500
o 500-2000

o More than 2000

10)
On a scale of 1 to 5 rate your preference of shop you frequently visit in the
mall?(where 1 equals to not at all importance and 5 equals to very importance

Apparels

Electronics

SuperMarket

Gift shops

Food court

Cinema

Gaming

21

11) How far is the mall that you visit frequently, from your residence?(in KM)

2-4
0-2

>10
4-10

12) Do you face any type of problems in these mall ?

o Yes

o No

12) If Yes then Specify ..

13) Which type of new services you want for ideal mall ?

14) USP of a mall in your opinion in 1-2 sentences.

....
Thank You for your precious time!!!

22

Annexure 2: Factor Correlation Matrix

shopping
Correlation

shopping

dinning

movies

gaming

hangout

apparel

1.000

.253

.367

-.014

-.140

.397

dinning

.253

1.000

.244

.322

-.025

.068

movies

.367

.244

1.000

.181

.074

.104

gaming

-.014

.322

.181

1.000

.001

.116

hangout

-.140

-.025

.074

.001

1.000

.002

apparel

.397

.068

.104

.116

.002

1.000

-.081

.128

.162

.259

.243

.258

supermarket

.183

.094

.026

-.221

-.229

.131

giftshop

.256

.359

.291

.116

.001

.239

-.028

.442

.209

.205

.015

-.315

cinema

.104

.050

.507

.090

.173

.078

gamezone

.088

.138

.267

.428

.095

.181

ambience

.275

-.050

-.008

.007

-.247

.432

infra

.367

.107

.106

-.097

-.044

.105

parking

.185

.034

.066

.101

-.110

.071

location

.353

.040

.027

-.182

.050

.176

no of shops

.340

.357

.158

-.062

-.062

.042

public transport

.118

.311

.237

.085

.071

.154

security

.187

.173

-.067

.154

-.087

-.054

electronics

foodcourt

23

electronics
Correlation

shopping

supermarket

giftshop

foodcourt

cinema

-.081

.183

.256

-.028

.104

dinning

.128

.094

.359

.442

.050

movies

.162

.026

.291

.209

.507

gaming

.259

-.221

.116

.205

.090

hangout

.243

-.229

.001

.015

.173

apparel

.258

.131

.239

-.315

.078

1.000

.036

.272

.292

.279

supermarket

.036

1.000

.128

-.014

.048

giftshop

.272

.128

1.000

.311

.281

foodcourt

.292

-.014

.311

1.000

.250

cinema

.279

.048

.281

.250

1.000

gamezone

.357

-.024

.201

.260

.279

ambience

.119

.277

-.109

-.370

.055

infra

.045

.211

.106

-.082

.192

parking

.110

.107

-.025

.009

.106

location

.058

.325

.197

.000

.181

no of shops

.111

.301

.214

.080

.138

public transport

.250

.245

.168

.029

.228

-.077

-.069

.088

.100

-.062

electronics

security

24

gamezone
Correlation

ambience

infra

parking

location

no of shops

shopping

.088

.275

.367

.185

.353

.340

dinning

.138

-.050

.107

.034

.040

.357

movies

.267

-.008

.106

.066

.027

.158

gaming

.428

.007

-.097

.101

-.182

-.062

hangout

.095

-.247

-.044

-.110

.050

-.062

apparel

.181

.432

.105

.071

.176

.042

electronics

.357

.119

.045

.110

.058

.111

-.024

.277

.211

.107

.325

.301

giftshop

.201

-.109

.106

-.025

.197

.214

foodcourt

.260

-.370

-.082

.009

.000

.080

cinema

.279

.055

.192

.106

.181

.138

gamezone

1.000

-.093

-.103

.053

-.060

.063

ambience

-.093

1.000

.438

.160

.287

.258

infra

-.103

.438

1.000

-.076

.225

.322

parking

.053

.160

-.076

1.000

.221

-.071

location

-.060

.287

.225

.221

1.000

.198

no of shops

.063

.258

.322

-.071

.198

1.000

public transport

.172

.324

.083

.062

.126

.243

security

.016

-.011

.031

.362

.180

.133

supermarket

25

public transport
Correlation

security

shopping

.118

.187

dinning

.311

.173

movies

.237

-.067

gaming

.085

.154

hangout

.071

-.087

apparel

.154

-.054

electronics

.250

-.077

supermarket

.245

-.069

giftshop

.168

.088

foodcourt

.029

.100

cinema

.228

-.062

gamezone

.172

.016

ambience

.324

-.011

infra

.083

.031

parking

.062

.362

location

.126

.180

no of shops

.243

.133

public transport

1.000

-.018

security

-.018

1.000

26