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INTRODUCTION:-
A ''shopping mall''' or '''shopping centre''' is a building or set of buildings which contain retail units, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit. The population is moving towards the middle class or upper middle class this is resulting in the higher disposable income.
A shopping center enclosed within a large structure; often two or three stories high, often designed around a central atrium; may have numerous stores, as well as entertainment facilities such as movie theaters, fast-food outlets, restaurants, and public areas. A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version of the traditional marketplace.
In India there are three categories of malls- value malls(e.g. BigBazar), value cum-lifestyle mall (e.g. pantaloon) and Lifestyle malls(e.g. Treasure island).There are five malls in indore city. These are treasure island, central mall, C21 mall, Malhar mega mall, Mangal city etc. In the present competitive world if any business organization has to survive it needs to keep an eye on various forces operating in the market. More over competitors constantly try to win over others. In this scenario, every business organization needs to monitor the changes taking place in the market so that they are not caught. Market research is an efficiency tool in the hands of a marketer that helps him to take changes taking place in the market. Shopping malls are operating in an increasingly competitive environment characterized by over capacity and declining customers (where the promotional activities of the mall are increasingly being used to differentiate the mall through image communication, increase visits and stimulate merchandise purchases Research on the use of marketing tools and measuring their effectiveness as driving factors of shopping malls. The report has been drawn up with the objective of identifying.
and analyzing the promotional offers offered by the malls to attract more customers and other key factors and attributes, which influence consumers while deciding to visit a particular mall. Five shopping malls in Indore are chosen for the purpose of the study.
Promotions/offers
Generally, promotion is communicating with the public in an attempt to influence them toward buying your products and/or services.The word promotion is also used specifically to refer to a particular activity that is intended to promote the business, product or service. A store might advertise that it's having a big promotion on certain items, for instance, or a business person may refer to an ad as a promotion. A promotion might be a short-term price reduction, contest or sweepstakes, package giveaway, or free sample offer. A promotion might also be a single mailing within a direct mail campaign or series of advertisements that make up part of an ongoing print advertising campaign.
The company can use any number of the promotional mix elements. These may include:
- Advertising - On TV, Radio, Magazines.
- Sales promotion - Special deals over a period of time.
Sales promotion is an important component of a small business's overall marketing strategy, along with advertising, public relations, and personal selling. The American Marketing Association (AMA) defines sales promotion as "media and non media marketing pressure applied for a predetermined, limited period of time in order to stimulate trial, increase consumer demand, or improve product quality." But this definition does not capture all the elements of modern sales promotion. One should add that effective sales promotion increases the basic value of a product for a limited time and directly stimulates consumer purchasing, selling effectiveness, or the effort of the sales force. It can be used to inform, persuade, and remind target customers about the business and its marketing mix. Some common types of sales promotion include samples, coupons, sweepstakes, contests, in-store displays, trade shows, price-off deals, premiums, and rebates.
Sales promotion acts as a competitive weapon by providing an extra incentive for the target audience to purchase or support one brand over another. It is particularly effective in spurring product trial and unplanned purchases. Most marketers believe that a given product or service has an established perceived price or value, and they use sales promotion to change this price-value relationship by increasing the value and/or lowering the price. Compared to the other components of the marketing mix (advertising, publicity, and personal selling), sales promotion usually operates on a shorter time line, uses a more rational appeal, returns a tangible or real value, fosters an immediate sale, and contributes highly to profitability. shopping mall groups are increasingly using group branding as the basis for promotional activities, emphasizing the security for the customer of knowing that they will receive the same level of mix no matter which ‘branch’ is shopped at. This is similar to the strategies of many chain stores, particularly fast food chains. However, in both the retailers’ cases and that of the shopping malls, localized promotional activities are still utilized. This research examines the effectiveness of group promotional activities versus localized activities, with the premise that the level of local market dominance will impact on the effectiveness.