INTRODUCTION

A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area a modern, indoor version of the traditional marketplace. A shopping mall (or simply mall), shopping center, or shopping arcade is a building or set of buildings that contain stores, and has interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from store to store. The walkways may or may not be enclosed. The first structure resembling what is considered to be a "shopping mall" in the present-day is located in The City of Damascus, the capital city of Syria. It is called Al-Hamidiyah Souq in old Damascus and dates back to the 19th century.[4] Isfahan's Grand Bazaar, which is largely covered, dates from the 10th century. The 10 kilometer long covered Tehran's Grand Bazaar also has a long history. The Grand Bazaar of Istanbul was built in the 15th century and is still one of the largest covered markets in the world, with more than 58 streets and 4,000 shops.

The great Indian mall boom:

Its a revolution thats fast changing the way of life for millions of shopping crazy citizens in India. Kanpur is way behind in this process but we can see the trends in NCR. From the days of mama-papa stores at the local marketplace, Delhi and NCR is now metamorphosing into the land of upscale shopping centers and malls, much on the lines of Singapore and Dubai. At last count, over four dozen shopping malls were operational in the region last year and another 140-odd new shopping arcades are set to dot the city landscape in days to come. Kanpur will follow same path in near future as Rave, Globus, Vishal mega mart are indications. Global estimates say India will be home to 36.2 million square feet of shopping malls in 2008 And the developers of these malls seem to have their finger on the pulse of discerning customers needs. That explains why special malls focusing on marriages, jewellery and on high-end brands are mushrooming all over the country. Take the example of Gurgaon, a sleepy little suburb of the Indian capital New Delhi. In a development that surprised many town planners, Gurgaon transformed itself overnight by first housing the headquarters of many multinational corporations and banks, and then calling itself the shopping-mall capital of India. So, friends Malls are here, kneel before them!

Mall: A natural phenomenon in late industrial society:

We can clearly observe that malls are very much qualifying for the tag of flag holders of late industrial society. They pop up in America in late 70s, then in European countries and in third world nations like India are undergoing same process. Let us find out how malls are representatives of late industrial society.

Malls are characterize by their smiling workers. All of them are dressed same way and they are trained to behave friendly and with curtsey. Many malls also give awards like best employee of the month to encourage them. An ever smiling worker of malls are now stereotype of modern culture. This is emotional labor, the act of expressing socially desired emotions during service transaction as said by Alan Bryman in his essay The Disneyization of Society .Customer likes this feature and feels a bit respected in society. Flatter organization: This is phenomenon we observe in our group trip to rave three. In pantaloon there were no manager. All of employees were assistant trainee or security guard. Talking to a trainee, he told us that they have a boss in delhi, who controls 4-5 malls same time by internet and often visits Kanpur. So there are effectively only two levels to run a mall. Mass Society: Mass society is a society in which concerns of majority plays a prominent role. Malls owners always take a deep interest in consumers need and then promote product for everyone which is well thought of and same in core but different in packaging. It gives consumer a false satisfaction that he is getting his choice but in reality he is getting same thing as someone else. Cultural industry and entertainment: Malls and various coffee chains have been claimed by the citys youth as a space of their own. From the elitist literary coffee culture of Dryden and Pope in 18th century London, to the haunts of dedicated journos in the India of 1960s and 70s, the cuppa has had a long and varied history around the world. Every city provides a chill out zone to its youth that insists on value addition to simply sipping cola or a cup of tea. The air-conditioning, music, movies, scrabble and discs full of wisecracks, all add up to an atmosphere that is probably a familiar, yet upscale version of the college canteen. Knowledge becoming source of power: Now knowledge of market can land you a great job because everybody is searching for the mood of customers. Advertising is a refined outcome of market knowledge. Mall is a place which promotes the centralized advertising. Your advertisement in a mall itself guaranty reach up to a large number of customer. But due to malls reading habits are going to drain. This is a reverse thing from late industrial society. Books and the reading habit have not been able to survive the onslaught of, first, television and, now, the malls and Internet. Apart from the annual book fair, country does not see much happening in that front either. Though thousands flock the fair, few are book-lovers. Publishers also complain that most only come to see the books, few to buy. The message is loud and clear books are still something people want to see and flip through, not buy because they have other time passes.

 Use of technology: Most of the small shopkeepers already feeling heat as malls are using new and good technology for food packaging and administrative task. Lifts, Escalators, air conditioners, electronic security system are few example. Also now online malls are also in function in India. Like www.fabmall.com , www.ebay.in . So computers and global coordination is a key feature of mall culture..

How Malls are Taking Indian Tradition Away

The concept of shopping malls has overtaken the popularity of the bazaars that was the hallmark of Indian tradition. Shopping malls is basically a western concept but Indians simply love the mall mantra that has spread far and wide. Indians love shopping in the air-conditioned malls and saving time is the main objective of mall shopping We all know that Indian culture is colorful and markets, bazaars are the main essence of this, our tradition says shopping from different markets and shops but now people are not even thinking of that and looking more and malls around them. Shop until you drop statement is now not applicable to people because they know they will have lots of fun entertainment, fast food, different services and other things will make their shopping enjoyable for them. Shopping is not paying and purchasing its much more than that in this modern age. When we look back to the history of India, we found that people were not so civilized and this mall concept was not even in their thought but copying western culture give them a thought to replace traditional markets with huge malls. Things are improving and not only metro cities but also small districts have huge malls for fun and entertainment. Shopkeepers are now sitting idle and their work and employment are not as powerful as it was earlier, people prefer shopping malls rather going to a shop. All good are available in these multiplexes and now there is the close relation between consumers and malls. Real estate is going higher with these malls and people fear to invest their money in small places where there is a lack of malls, every day a new mall open anywhere in the country. Our tradition was to shop in markets and bazaars where people enjoy shopping from one shop to another but now this is lost in a crowd of these shopping malls, and people are more comfortable with this modernization.

Malls in India
Markets in India have undergone a drastic change since globalization that helped in the development of the country from the industrial point of view. India has also developed as a shoppers paradise. Old fashioned markets have transformed into modern shopping malls. With the increase in the Indias economy the spending habit of the people have also increased. Most of the well known cities now have various shopping malls which offer all range of products right from branded clothing, accessories, furnitures, electronic showrooms and many more. Various restaurants and food chains have started becoming a part of shopping malls. A large number of people are turning towards the malls for their shopping needs as it is a place where you can get various local as well as international branded products under one roof. he shoppers prefer shopping in malls instead of ordinary markets, as they get quality product which are very hard to find in the market. There is no bargain system into the mall, so there are very less chances of you being cheated by anyone. Also you can find various warranties and guarantee schemes into the malls which are not available in the ordinary market. Indian malls are also a very good tourist attraction for foreigners, as they get a chance to see our life style. You can also find various international brands opening their branches into these malls; these malls provide a large variety of products which suits all kind of needs. A new concept of multiplexes has been introduced in malls which provide you with various new releases of both Indian as well as international films. Huge parking space is also provided for the shoppers, which takes away the most important task of finding parking lot for their cars. Security check is also available keeping in mind the safety and security of the shoppers.

Interesting Things to do in a Mall

Malls are basically buildings with many shops, selling different products to the consumers. Malls are generally associated for exquisite shopping experience they provide to the consumers. But theres more than just shopping to the malls. Malls these days are equipped with state of art of architecture comprising spacious shops which boasts of selling almost all kind of products of world renowned brands, be it clothing, crockery, toys, electronic equipment, there is no dearth of products in malls. These days malls stock up multitude of products and come up with innovative strategies to sell them to the customers. Besides shopping theres plethora of things that one can do in malls. Malls generally have food outlets of various branded food chains, these places provide for usual hangout to people who visit malls. Along with shopping experience you get to relish on various delicacies these food outlets provide. Thus if you want to have a quick bite or some quality food, look no further than the nearest mall.

These days malls usually house multiplexes, where people can watch latest movies; these multiplexes provide a unique viewing experience to the audience with their surround sound system and high quality of video. Multiplexes in malls are one of the best places to catch up with the best local and international flicks. These days malls are doubling up as jogging tracks for citizens who are bereft of open spaces to jog on. Citizens jog in the cool environs of the mall during morning period, when the malls are closed for the general customers. Thus malls are providing community service too. With the advent of new marketing strategies, malls have many attractive features that attract consumers to the malls. These days malls usually showcase latest car models or malls are used as a platform by film makers to publicize their films, so if you want to check out that formula one car or catch a glimpse of your favorite actor whos come to publicize his film, malls are the right place for you.

Quality Control in a Shopping Mall

A shopping mall is basically a set up of two or more buildings that consist of a variety of shops representing merchandisers, restaurants, food chain and various cafes. A mall is internally connected with walkways for visitors to walk from shop to shop along with a parking area. A mall acts as an outlandish place to the security guards of the mall, as a number of people continually enters and leaves a mall with small objects that cannot be spotted easily. For this reason Shopping malls need a surveillance strategy that utilizes best planning, resources and technology that ensure safety of Goods, Staff and Customers. IP cameras also known as network cameras or internet cameras are used to ensure such safety. IP camera records and sends the recorded information through the internet. These cameras are a benefit not only in terms of cost and convenience but also to protect people and objects. As the records of the mall can be send via Internet the security teams can keep an eye on the store from anywhere in the world rather than always arriving at the site where a criminal activity has been performed. Besides proper lighting, the mall has its fair shares of IP cameras for ensuring shopper safety. Parking lots with very dim light provide great opportunities to criminals to victimize shoppers and require a good deal of cash. Also wireless alarms communicate with the security networks through antenna and are designed to alert guards about an illegal activity. Now-a-days, two way radios are far more used and easier than the walkie-talkies. These Radios help the guards to pinpoint the location of any tripped alarm and also to call the law enforcement and other emergency responders. Hence, these most advanced models of security give the guards control over the mall and thus the quality control over a mall can be maintained.

Brand Selection in Malls

Simple elucidation of the term brand selection is the umpteen choices provided by an outlet to their customers. So brand selection in malls refers to the fact that a mall offers a varied range of brands of the same product i.e. the number of alternative brands of a particular product. Now, there are various factors involved when it comes to choosing a product of particular brand over other, especially when brands in consideration are equally good and serve their purpose in their own unique way. Here comes to into play the various factor associated with the brands such as brand positioning, brand loyalty. A consumer loyal to a particular brand over the years will always prefer to go with it owing to the remarkable service he has received from it. So also a consumer may be more inclined to choose a particular brand over other owing to the kind of publicity and its brand image in the market. Thus a person will buy a particular product mostly concerned with the fact that, how associating himself with that particular brand improves his image in the society. Brand selection in a mall results in a stiff competition between the various brands resulting into improved quality brands at lesser price as the various brands vie for most number of customers, on the other hand it results in poorly informed consumers who arent completely aware about the details of any particular products thanks to the plethora of products they have to deal with. Thus brand selection has its advantage as well as disadvantage, so the responsibility lies on the arms of the consumer so as to determine what hell be choosing and what hell be discarding. And this has to come after some proper knowledge of the products, because a sensible consumer would purchase a good quality product at a slight higher cost rather than a cheap low quality product.

Advantages of Malls
A shopping mall is basically a building comprising of various stores and outlets that sell their individual products to the customers. Shopping malls are the central point from where varied local and international brands can sell their product to the common man. Malls can be proclaimed as modern day markets which provide for lot more than just products to the customers. Malls have several advantages as far as customer service and satisfaction is concerned. The most important one being that you can find almost any general-purpose products in malls provided by different retailers, so you can compare and contrast between quality and price of the product in question and make the best possible choice. The best of the brands display their products in shopping malls so you dont have to travel any further than the next shop, thus saving both time and energy.

Shopping is said to have calming effect on the minds of the shoppers and many shoppers will vouch for that. With famous food chains having their outlets in malls, they are emerging as a good place to hang-out with friends and spend some quality time shopping, eating, and chatting as is your desire. So if you want to calm your nerves after a harrowing day at work you know where you should be headed to. Malls provide multi-tiered parking place for vehicles of customers within the mall, thus they avoid traffic congestion caused by vehicles, erstwhile parked on road. Malls around the world are also being used as jogging track, during the wee hours when the malls are closed for shopping, by the space starved citizen. Thus malls along with providing the right kind of environment for shopping also serve the society in various other ways by providing employment to the locals and also improving the standard of living of the people by providing good quality products at competitive prices.