Money
Malls unveil schemes in bid to boost footfall
Almost all the shopping malls in the Kathmandu valley have announced various schemes and discounts in an attempt to lure festive customers and revive sales dampened by the monsoon rains.The Dashain-Tihar season is the best time for shopping malls to boost their business as people usually buy new apparels, footwear, home appliances and gadgets, said traders.
According to store owners, 30-40 percent of their annual sales happen during the Dashain-Tihar festival season. There are discounts and gifts galore on almost everything on sale from cars, bikes, televisions and smartphones to tour packages and apparels.
City Centre at Kamal Pokhari has launched a festive scheme under which one customer will win a Volkswagen Polo car as the bumper prize. Besides, customers buying products worth Rs 500 or more get a chance to win daily prizes ranging from TV sets to washing machines. The mall has been running various weekend programmes to increase footfall.
Similarly, Civil Mall at Sundhara has rolled out a scheme named Samsung Galaxy S5 Civil Mall Dashain and Tihar Mahotsav under which customers purchasing goods worth Rs 1,000 or above will get a coupon that allows them to participate in daily lucky draws.
Customers will get a chance to win four Mahindra scooters, air tickets, LCD TV, diamond pendant, digital camera, Timex watches and various home appliances. The mall also offers various musical performances and games to increase footfall.
“Hordes of shoppers will be thronging the markets during the festival season, and we are trying to attract them with our schemes,” said Vivek Mishra, business head of City Centre. He added that schemes were very effective means to boost footfall at the mall. “We are witnessing footfall levels of 9,000-10,000 these days compared to 4,000-5,000 during normal times,” said Mishra.
Similarly, Rising Mall has introduced schemes with TVS Phoenix bike, Samsung Galaxy S5 smartphone, tablets, mobiles, home theatres, fridges and tickets as prizes. Likewise, customers purchasing goods worth Rs 1,000 or more from KL Tower will get a coupon through which they can win Colors smartphones and gift vouchers as daily prizes. The company offers a Suzuki bike as the bumper prize. “We have been seeing an enormous growth in footfall,” said Ramesh Kakshapati, manager of KL Tower.
Although the feeling among people that shopping malls are expensive has been changing, sales have been lower than in previous years, said traders. “The mushrooming number of malls could be the reason behind falling sales,” said a trader at Civil Mall. “However, we are trying to attract customers by offering heavy discounts.”