Global branded malls are ready to create emotional connection with local consumers

Over the weekend, I got an opportunity to visit Select City Walk Mall in Saket, New Delhi. It was great to experience the presence of global brands like Rockport, Apple, Calvin Klein Jeans, Mark & Spencers, Tommy and Levis in this multi-storey infrastructure. The assortment of products in the stores and the visual merchandising component was outstanding. As expected, there was a higher concentration of visitors in the food court area, movie complex, coffee shops and the walkaway discount stores. A large % of visitors were there to relax and enjoy with a spirit of window shopper. Overall, the environment was electrifying and it was good to watch visitors playing the role of brand advocates for various local and global brands. Despite of this staggering amount of footprints in the mall, the ratio between visitors in the mall and the individual stores was really poor. Majority of the visitors were walking by the stores and looking at the displayed merchandise on the mannequins while, a mere 2-5% of the visitors were dared to visit the store, and check the assortment in the shelves and try couple of outfits. There were 2 things which really amazed me when I visited few global brand stores like Tommy, Levis and Rockport. First, the price point of various product categories was really high. Secondly, there were not many styles as compare to U.S market where I spent my last 7 years in the Retail and E-Commerce arena. The global brand stores were striving their best to create awareness among the local visitors and articulating the similar brand image in front of NRIs who experienced the brands in the North America and European markets. The best example was Fifth Avenue store highlighting, the same elegant and stylish image of a confident New York women who is aggressive, optimistic, liberal and works with Top Marketing Agencies, Event Management Organizations, Law Firms and Wall Street firms. After spending a whole day there, I really felt proud on my country and the kind of opportunities we have created for the global brands in the local market and give them an opportunity to influence our urban society, and create the same emotional connection with them as they created in their home countries. The speed with which the organized retail is growing in India, that day is not far enough when this sector would contribute significantly in our growth rate and help us entering in the list of developed countries. Great Job India!!