In an interesting development, results of a survey conducted by Viviana Mall across Thane and the MMR threw up some interesting revelations where patrons of the mall were subjected to a series of questions to ascertain their preferences and choices when it came to the reopening of the mall in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The survey results showed 61% of the shoppers are ready to pre-book their visit to the mall and 48% of the total visitors would prefer to make an appointment with a store they want to shop at. A whopping 68% of shoppers expressed interest in visiting the Mall for various reasons in the initial month of the mall’s reopening.

As per the findings, 13% of the footfalls are expected immediately after the mall has reopened, 29% within 15 days of re-opening and 14% have confirmed about visiting with a month. Almost 50% of the respondents also shared willingness to pay a nominal convenience fee for the facilities that will be put up to ensure the visitors get a safer environment to make their purchases at.

Based on these findings, Viviana Mall has tied up with one of the leading ticketing brands, BookMyShow.com in order to provide shoppers with an alternative of appointment-based visits. Each visitor will have to book their visits at the mall by purchasing the token from the website at a nominal fee of Rs. 10. Based on these tokens the individual will be allowed to be within the mall premises for a specific time duration. At the entrance gate, the shopper will have to scan the appointment’s QR code and proceed for security and sanitisation checks. Express Entries will also be permitted from specific gates at the mall’s ground and basement floors.

To make payments for the shopping done, only 13% of the visitors may continue to pay through cash, while the majority have either switched over or would pay through cards or mobile wallets. At the food court or restaurants, 94% said they would want contactless food ordering service or packaging.

“As we move closer towards mall's reopening, we have come up with ‘7 Cs Model’ for smooth functioning and to provide better service to our customers, retailer partners and employees post-lockdown. These 6 Cs are ‘Change’ in the business strategies and processes for better outputs, ‘Confidence’ about being able to combat the challenges with a positive approach towards the situation, ‘Collaboration’ with our retail partners and vendors, ‘Concern’ about our consumer preferences and most importantly our own staff, ‘Connect’ with our consumers to understand their sentiments to meet their expectations in an effective way, ‘Cash’ i.e. to generate positive cash flows and revenues to service and grow the business and lastly is to ‘Comfort’, i.e. to be able to provide our consumers with an effortless shopping experience at the mall,” said Manoj K. Agarwal, Chief Executive Officer, Viviana Mall.