How to manage a shopping mall effectively

And the reason for this is because the demand for it is getting higher on a daily basis; thereby making it a very lucrative business.

But like every other business, the successfulness of a shopping mall depends greatly on the hand that is managing it.

In other words, a shopping mall will fail if it is being managed by an incompetent hand and succeed if the case is otherwise.

Owing to this, it is important for us to know what shopping mall management means.

What is mall management?

Mall management can be defined as an overall operation and maintenance of the entire building infrastructure, which includes the services and utilities, ensuring that they are used in a way that is consistent with the purpose for which it was acquired.

To simply put it, mall management covers the supervising of functions, operations, marketing, accounts and customer service.

How to manage a shopping mall?

1. Location

The location of the mall plays a very important role when it comes to services. And in other to pick a perfect location, there must be a detailed survey of households in the area.

This survey includes demographics, psychographics, income levels and competition in the area. It also includes both the accessibility and visibility of the area.

2. Ideal tenant mix

The term 'tenant mix' simply means the different retailers or service providers present in the mall and the space they operate in.

It is important to admit the right service providers or retailer, because they are the ones to determine the type of costumers that will be coming to the mall.

Know the type of business your tenant operates before accepting him/her as one. And apart from the fact that the importance of knowing this cannot be overemphasized, it helps in preventing a mismatch kind of situation.

3. Facility management

Facility management is the management of people, place, process, and technology in a building.

Here, the management does not only provide specialized services to malls, which ranges from parking, security, to housekeeping and cash management, it also handle electro-mechanical services like taking fire preventive measure, access control, power management, plumbing, supply chain, marketing research, logistics, and design etc.

4. Infrastructural management

Infrastructural management is classified as the overall supervision and administration of various facilities provided to tenants which includes risk management measures, such as adopting essential safety measures, conducting asset liability and environmental audits as well as imparting emergency and evacuation training.

5. Parking management

This is one major aspect of mall management where the level of coordination is easily noticed.

A well-managed parking space, with an easy flow of vehicles, goes a long way in making life easier for visitors.

It also makes it possible for the mall security to have a documented knowledge of the customers that usually comes around.

6. Promotions and marketing

There are promotional events that help promote brands; and just like it is for brands, these events are also important when it comes to mall management.

Some of the most effective promotional models include celebrity visits, food festivals and talk shows. These promotional models, when organised properly, can help attract more visitors and revenues to the mall.

Organizing cultural, national, and religious celebrations will also prove useful.

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