Footfall at shopping malls to decline significantly

Shopping malls in major cities may witness a decline of more than half in footfall this Diwali, with online buying catching up on the back of discounted sales by e-tailers, a survey by Assocham said. “In the wake of unprecedented surge in e-commerce, shopping malls, already under huge pressure due to large vacant spaces, are expected to see a sharp decline in the footfalls to the extent of 55.58 percent during the ongoing festive season this year,” it added.

Delhi-NCR has recorded the highest decline in footfalls in the city malls. As per the survey, about 120-150 malls in Delhi-NCR were launched in the past two years but almost 65-70 percent of the spaces in many of these malls remain vacant. “Several malls, unable to attract the shops, are even shutting down,” the poll said, adding that the major factors that attributed to this situation are economic slowdown, online shopping, high interest rate and inflation in consumer goods.

The survey got responses from major cities in the NCR (National Capital Region), apart from Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh and Dehradun. In the nine major cities, more than 59 percent of the total mall space remains vacant, with Delhi-NCR topping the list with 68.5 percent, followed by Mumbai at 65 percent, Ahmedabad (61 percent) and Chennai (60 percent).

The study reveals that there may be a five-fold increase in the revenue clocked in by the ecommerce websites in categories including mobile phones, electronics, designer furniture, home decorations, apparel, accessories, jewellery and footwear.