KOLKATA - Not too long ago, chilling out in
India meant going to watch movies, having a glass of
beer in a pub, listening to music, or simply "hanging
out" with friends. Today, the buzz words are "mall
rats", coined from the US film of the same.
"My
friends and I just can't sit at home and watch TV," says
Neha Gupta, a 20-year daughter of "very busy" doctor
parents (read affluent). "And even if I do not have
serious shopping to do every day, we can't think of a
better way to spend our time than hanging around in
shopping malls, catching a bite and sitting at Barista
[a coffee chain] for hours."
Indeed, hanging out
in the shopping malls that are cropping up in the
country by scores is emerging as the new leisure
activity of choice for India's "Generation Now", to
whom, say psychologists, the concept of "have money,
will spend" is changing to, "am depressed, will shop".
"A quick trip to the mall seems to be the new
trend that is sweeping India's youngsters. They use it
as a therapy to cure stress and tension," says Dr Anjali
Chhabra, a Mumbai-based psychologist. "It is seen that
when people are low and they hit the malls, they
suddenly feel better."
To check out the charms
of the much-touted activity, as recommended by numerous
Indian youngsters, and sometimes even their mothers, all
one needs to do is to become a mall rat for a day. Be it
one of the numerous sprawling and glitzy shopping malls
that dot the landscapes of major Indian cities, or even
a large department store in smaller cities like Patna
(in Bihar) that store owners there call malls - shopping
malls all over the country are experiencing the birth of
a new phenomenon as more and more Indians, particularly
youngsters, frequent these air-conditioned havens to
escape the stifling summer heat and enjoy some "quality
time"; even if many do not necessarily always splurge.
The impact of this trend on India's
much-talked-about post-globalization consumerism of the
country's youngsters - termed "indies" by the country's
marketers - is clearly visible. "We have tripled our
sales in Bangalore city in the last three years," says
Shumone Chatterjee, marketing director of Levi Strauss
India. He believes that this is largely due to the mall
mania that is sweeping the 18-30 year age group.
Little wonder then that "catching 'em young and
watch 'em grow" seems to have become the watchword of
every marketer targeting the youth segment. Indian
youngsters' spending and leisure habits are driving even
global companies to design special products for these
new young consumers. Standard Chartered Bank, for
instance, is targeting these youngsters with products
like the Visa "mini", which they say is 43% smaller than
the regular card and has been positioned as a "cool
accessory". The MTV Citibank Mastercard, too, has gone
in for a more exciting new look, a variant of its global
"mc2" design. Both cards offer discounts at popular
retail outlets and hangouts frequented by youngsters.
Reebok - the American sporting apparel brand -
is taking them even more seriously. "We are in the
process of setting up an internal study to understand
how to target these youth," said a company spokesperson.
And Airtel, the country's second largest mobile phone
service provider, which estimates it has 40 million
potential young consumers, is one of the few companies
to have addressed the affordability criteria with its Rs
50 (US$1.1) and Rs 100 ($2.2) charge cards.
About half of India's 1 billion people are under
the age of 25; it is reckoned that they have about $5
billion to spend. Add to that a slightly larger amount
that doting parents will lavish on them. "Which company
will walk past a $10.5 billion cash pile without trying
to dip in," queries Asif Ansari of advertising firm
Ogilvy & Mather.
But even as marketers like
Levi's, Airtel, and scores of other Indian and foreign
brands are rejoicing over the new mall rats, not
everyone is happy. According to a recent study on the
growing popularity of shopping malls conducted by the
television channel CNBC, traditional shopping districts
are loosing out on customers. "It is the soaring heat
that makes people head for malls," said one store owner
in a traditional shopping district in Kolkata.
However, while traditional shopping districts
begrudge the loss of customers to the more upmarket
malls, shopping mall executives and mall store owners
also say that increasing footfalls do not quite
translate into proportionate increases in sales,
although they "are not exactly plummeting" they say.
Nevertheless, mall owners aren't objecting to
the extra crowds. "Yes it is true that footfalls are
leaping up in shopping malls without translating into an
equivalent increase in sales, but we cannot ignore
them," says the marketing and public relations officer
of the Bengal Ambuja Metro Development, that has just
developed one of the country's largest shopping malls in
Kolkata. "It translates into brand recall value and
publicity for us."
Mall ratting is perhaps
benefiting the country in other ways, too. In its
just-released retail study, management consultancy firm
AT Kearney ranked India as the second-most attractive
retail destination in the world, topping even emerging
economic powerhouse China. "Despite obstacles such as
stringent foreign direct investment rules and
regulations, India's attractiveness among global
retailers is cemented by its second place position," the
report said, adding that rising consumer spending power
is making India the most attractive destination after
Russia, which comes first (China is third). It also said
a number of international giants, including Wal-Mart and
Carrefour, were considering entry into India (if the
investment regulations, which bar direct foreign
investment in the retail sector, were removed.)
Still, the new face of India's youth consumerism
that is fueling unprecedented spending habits of the
country's youngsters has many critics, and now, a new
one. According to a news report by Reuters, after
attracting condemnation from some critical social
experts, the country's "lopsided consumerism" is now
drawing the wrath of Catholic priests in the country.
The lure of money emerging as the driving force of
Indian youngsters is the biggest danger facing the
country's young men and women today, Father KT Emmanuel,
head priest of a church in Mumbai, was quoted as saying
recently.
But that doesn't worry Neha Gupta,
India's typical new-age youngster. "Live for today, hope
for tomorrow, and splurge tonight is our mantra," she
says.
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