India: 55.58% decline in footfalls expected in malls this Diwali: Survey

(MENAFN- KNN India) The growing success and popularity of online retailers have threatened the city mall culture, revealing a dropdown of customers by 55.58 per cent during this festive season, said a survey.

According to the just concluded survey by ASSOCHAM, Delhi-NCR has recorded the highest decline in footfalls at city malls. As per the study, about 120-150 malls were launched in the past two years but close to 65-70 per cent of the spaces in many of the malls still remain empty. Several malls, unable to attract the shops are even shutting down.

The release also mentioned the major factors attributed to this situation that included- economic slowdown, online shopping, high interest rate and inflation of consumer good items, the steep drop in shoppers have hit the malls which are already suffering from large vacant spaces.

In the nine major cities, more than 59 percent of the total mall space remains vacant, with Delhi-NCR top the list with 68.5 percent, followed by Mumbai at 65 percent, Ahmedabad at 61 percent and Chennai at 60 percent. According to the survey, several developers have already started giving rent-free period of up to six months for big brands to lure retailers.

On a national account, only 8-10 per cent of the malls are running successfully in the country. However, even this small count is suffering at par competition from the established online retailers like Flipkart, Amazon and Snapdeal.

The online shopping business is expected to go beyond Rs 55,000 crore this year, resulting in the halving of footfalls in malls in places like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad etc.

The growing trend is being attributed to the fact that all reputed Indian and international brands have tied-up with these websites and are being offered to the consumers at a much lower price than their retail prices.