Footfall in major shopping malls dip by up to 10% in April-June quarter, survey finds

Most of the 30 surveyed malls reported sequential decreases in their average daily footfall for the April-June period.

The average daily footfall across major shopping malls fell by up to 10 per cent sequentially during the April-June quarter. The dip has been attributed to extreme heat, a lack of major film releases, weeks-long parliamentary elections, according to a report from the data intelligence firm, GeoIQ. Of the 30 malls surveyed, only 10 reported an uptick in the average daily footfall.

Vegas Mall in Delhi's Dwarka suburb topped the list at  around 26,203. However, the figure was around 6 per cent lower over the January-March quarter. The most visited shopping mall in Mumbai, Phoenix Marketcity, located in the metropolis' eastern Kurla suburb, reported an average daily footfall of around 22,990. This figure, too, was marginally lower on a sequential basis.

Shopping malls in Delhi and Mumbai, along with those in their respective metropolitan counterparts, featured extensively in the list. Some retail properties from Tier-II cities featured as well such as Elante Mall in Chandigarh, whose average daily footfall of 19,443 during the April-June period was nearly 3 per cent lower, as compared to the January-March period. Among the malls surveyed, Palladium in Ahmedabad, operated by The Phoenix Mills Ltd, reported a sequential increase in its average daily footfall, by nearly 11 per cent to around 16,462.

GeoIQ gathered the average daily footfall numbers from anonymous geo-location data collected from mobile phone movements. According to the firm, a number of factors may have played a part in a dip in the footfall during the last quarter.

"In the beginning of the year,  both ‘Republic Day Sales’ and ‘End of season sales’ were in progress across shopping malls, leading to a higher footfall. The quarter also coincided with summer breaks in most schools when families go on vacations. On top of that, we saw record high temperatures across states. No wonder, many consumers preferred to stay indoors because of the oppressive heat," said Ankita Thakur, co-founder and chief data officer, GeoIQ.

Industry observers said that the parliamentary polls also led to cautious consumer sentiment. However, one of the biggest contributory factors was the underperformance of films during the last quarter. Data shows that there was no major film release during this period.  Multiplexes, as anchor tenants in shopping malls, are major crowd pullers.

"Usually, it is estimated that if 100 people come to a shopping mall, around up to 40 go to the multiplex to watch movies. However, there was a poor turnout in multiplexes. This led to worsening footfall in shopping malls. Consequently, the quarter also reported a decline in the stock price of PVR INOX," said Abhishek Sharma, senior director-retail agency,  Knight Frank India.

According to voices from the industry, Sharma said, footfall in shopping malls has "nearly doubled" since the last quarter. This is largely because new releases such as Stree 2 did brisk business. Leading shopping malls have also accommodated outlets of prominent food and beverage chains, which have been a major attraction among mall-goers, he added. These chains are add-ons to commonplace food courts in shopping malls.