How did mall culture emerge in India?

Shopping malls have played an important and predominant role in the lifestyle of the people. The emergence of mall culture has changed the entire concept of shopping in the last few years. It has widely changed the pattern of shopping activities. In modern world it is believed that the malls are the best place to shop, hang out and buy things. Shopping malls are also providing recreational facilities and are acting as a place for social activities. It has become a very common trend for Indian people to visit malls; thus the concept of mall culture emerged.

In shopping malls one can find wide range of items including almost every necessary product like groceries, dress material, electronic gadgets, home appliances and many more. The emergence of mall culture has made shopping easy and handy. This is the reason why people prefer visiting malls. Malls are a place where every product is available hence one need not go to various shops for buying things thereby reducing the pain and burden. They have simplified our lifestyles and life has become much smoother due to their emergence.

The malls provide good physical environment which includes elevation, lighting, washroom facility, architecture, building and plan layout, design and structure of the mall. All these features make a mall attractive and attract customers. While developing a building structure one must keep in mind about its design because it is the design that will attract customers to it.

The study of consumer behavior is also very important because it provides an idea to the marketers about the tastes and preferences of the customers. They will get to know what a consumer wants to buy and his needs as well. The marketers need to study the consumers very closely in order to determine their tastes and the changes occurring in the minds of the customer.


There are various reasons that cater to the emergence of malls in India; few of them are as follows:

• Eagerness and excitement of Indian shoppers to have a new shopping experience. 
• Fast growing middle class with higher level of discretionary income.
• Emergence of youth as an independent shopper 
• It has made shopping convenient and easier
• Change in lifestyle as well as consumer perceptions

There are various types of malls which are as follows:

• Regional malls: It is a mall that is designed to provide a larger service than the conventional malls.
• Outlet malls: It is a mall where the manufacturers sell their own products directly to the customers through their own stores.
• Vertical malls: These are the multi-storey building which have adopted the western culture.
• Dead malls: These are the ones which have failed to attract customers and develop their business.

Thus we see that the concept of mall culture has dominated the Indian society to a great extent. Sometimes due to lack of infrastructural facilities and unavailability of parking lots make a mall go out of business. Proper fund should be present so as to build high rise malls. Qualified workers are to be employed to ensure proper functioning of the mall. Hence a mall provides all the facilities under one roof and people spend their ample time here entertaining themselves, hanging out with friends, buying things and socializing.


Article by Anisha Dutta
She is a content evangelist who believes that the Science of today is the Technology of tomorrow. 
She can be reached at https://twitter.com/Anisha_Dutta29