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mall trends blog

6 Trends and Technologies to turn your casual mall-goers into loyal customers

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Do you remember the pandemic lockdowns? 

 

How badly was your mall affected?  

 

In Southeast Asia, many malls closed, along with retail outlets. 

 

Despite that, many malls have bounced back and are looking to reinvent themselves. Here’s how shopping malls can take advantage of the mall trends that are happening today. 

Here are 6 mall trends and technologies that will surely turn your mall into a smashing success with your shoppers post-Covid.  

1. Mall Gamification 

We all love games. It’s addicting. It’s a dopamine rush.

  

 

Why not implement gamification strategies for your mall?   

 

Games are also an opportunity for families and friends to bond over a social experience. 

 

Gamification also fits perfectly with making malls relevant and interesting once more.  

SKALE provides malls with a platform that allows mallgoers to play games like Digital Stamp Cards and Digital Scratch Cards that make offline shopping rewarding and addictive. 

 

With the Metaverse looking to become the norm in the near future, it’s important that your mall is ahead of the curve by using technologies that are already available like augmented reality (AR). 

 

SKALE also has the technology to enhance the shopping experience of your mall-goers through AR.  

 

Look at how the family below enjoys the presence of penguins in the mall through AR.  

2. Food Revolution

Food is in, retailers are out.

This is one of the biggest mall trends shopping mall operators should take note of. 

It used to be people go to the malls to go shop at the big retail brands.

According to a Deloitte study, the customers’ desire for social interaction will make food and beverage concepts to be the drawing factor for people to go to the mall.

malls food revolution

So, look to audit your mix of mall space.  

 

Devote more space to interesting and novel food concepts and refresh your current food court or hall experience for your mall visitors. 

3. Virtual Shopping and Personalization 

Mall goers want a seamless experience. They want to have a wonderful experience shopping online and offline.

 

The Metaverse mall is coming soon.

Below is a video on how Walmart imagines virtual shopping to be like.

Your mall should also urge your tenants to be able to do personalized virtual consultations with shoppers so that they can ask questions or check if the store has stock of a particular item.  

 

Enable your mall stores to have appointment-based shopping. This puts the mall-goer in command and will help create a memorable experience because the store can expect the visitor and personalize the experience with the use of a customer database.  

 

Work with your tenants to use common technologies so you can gather first party customer data and give personalized services in exchange.  

4. From Consumption to Experience

The shopping mall used to be associated primarily with buying things.  

Now, a lot of people flock to the malls because of the experiences it can provide.  

 

Cinemas, theme parks, galleries are just a few examples.  

Novel food experiences like food trucks and innovative startups opening pop-up stalls can also be part of the experiences that consumers are craving.  

 

It’s important to know your market well so that you can create the experiences they actually want.   

 

To do that you’ll need to collect customer data so that you can reach out and get to know their wants and preferences better.  

 

Having first-party customer data allows you to do market research easily. 

mall experiences

An easy way to do that is through smart receipts technology.  

 

Customers simply scan their receipts and they can receive instant rewards based on their spending amounts.  

 

In exchange, you get their personal data and spending preferences.  

You can now reach out to them with customized offers and special deals using geofencing technology. 

5. The Need for Social Interaction

We are social beings, and the pandemic has affected our social life dramatically.  

 

Pandemic isolation has affected people’s mental and emotional health tremendously.  

 

Your mall needs to be at the forefront of getting people’s mental health back in order.  

 

Think of green spaces.  

 

Think karaoke centers. 

 

Think competitions.  

 

Think of space and events for pet lovers.  

 

Think art galleries.  

 

Think of holding sports events like 3×3 basketball to draw crowds to your mall.  

 

Find ways to attract families and friends to congregate in your mall to socialize.  

sunway mall lagoon

For example, Sunway Pyramid Mall in Malaysia has its Sunway Lagoon water and theme park near it.  


Make your mall the second home of your customers.  

6. Safety, Hygiene and Wellness 

The pandemic bought a renewed focus towards safety and hygiene.  

 

Your mall should commit to this to emphasize that to reassure your visitors.  

 

Sanitizing the mall should be a priority.  

 

Health protocols should be implemented.   

 

While these will add to your operating costs, it’s worth the expense because your visitors will have peace of mind and will be more open to the retail and experiences your mall offers.  

 

People also go to the mall to relax and improve their health, especially post-pandemic.  

 

Think of spas, gardens, clinics, medical facilities, and wellness centers.  

 

Anything good for a person’s peace of mind and mental health will help make your mall attractive to people.  

All these mall trends and technologies are of immense value to your mallgoers, and they’ll surely reward these personalization and convenience efforts with loyalty.  

 

 

Want to start turning your mall visitors into active shoppers? Reach out to us at hello@skale.today and explore SKALE’s mall solutions.

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