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MUMBAI: The place is abuzz, just as in a typical big fat Indian wedding.
The scene — replete with priests, wedding planners, décor, cake specialists, photographers, makeup artists and gifts — is replicated across at least half a dozen malls, which are cashing in on wedding shopping — so far insulated from any real or perceived slowdown.
Treasure Island in Indore is in the middle of its maiden wedding festival, while Seawoods Grand Central (SGC) in Navi Mumbai concluded its first this weekend. Similar promotions and events are taking place at Viviana Mall in Thane, Ahmedabad One in Ahmedabad and Elante in Chandigarh.
The aim: to grab a slice of an industry that is worth $40-$50 billion, according to a KPMG report.
Other major mall operators, such as DLF and Phoenix, which had tried their own versions of wedding festivals earlier, are planning to scale them up at more locations.
“We realised it is going to be a tough year and really upped the ante in terms of initiatives, and it is paying off big time,” said Nishank Joshi, chief marketing officer at Blackstone Group’s Nexus Malls, which has held such festivals at six of its malls, including SGC and Treasure Island, during October-December. “The malls saw 10-12% growth in sales (wedding themed) in 2018 over the previous year. This year, trends show that it has been an almost 16-17% rise for the stores that participated,” Joshi added.
The response has been similar in the case of DLF.
DLF, which organises Couture Weddings at Emporio in Vasant Kunj and Wedding Tales at Mall of India in Noida, sees sales of Indian and ethnic brands rising 15-20% during these annual fests. “This year, too, growth has been around 15%,” said Pushpa Bector, executive director, DLF Shopping Malls. “We are trying to give a one-stop solution for all elements of a wedding,” she said.
DLF also plans to do something similar at its revamped mall, Avenue, in Delhi’s Saket. The mall will have more space for Indian and fusion wear. “We will do that possibly next year,” Bector said.
In India, most weddings follow auspicious dates in the Hindu calendar, the lull being around March-April and August-September. Wedding season, however, varies from region to region.
For example, in the North, there are chiefly two wedding seasons – in summer after March, and another that peaks around December-January. In the South, however, weddings take place round the year.
Wedding related shopping is also highly unorganised, and takes place at traditionally popular markets like Chandni Chowk in Delhi, and Manish Market and Zaveri Bazaar in Mumbai.
Shoppers are, however, slowly shifting to branded players these days. “It’s mostly about convenience. You have multiple brands under one roof and there is plenty to choose from,” said Sneha Thakur from Mumbai, who made the bulk of apparel and accessory purchases at malls for a recent wedding in the family. “The products are of good quality and it is easy to find what you are looking for. Also, trial and returns are easier. Besides, one can also redeem points,” she said.
Roy Jacob, a Thane resident, also affirmed that it was about convenience and price. “The mall is near my home. A variety of retail brands and collections are available. There were discount offers at some of the outlets. Price competitiveness is what I always look for,” he said.
No wonder malls are investing time and money into such initiatives.
Phoenix Mills Ltd, which hosted its first such festival in India at Marketcity Chennai in March, is also exploring the idea of extending the concept to its other properties. The two-day event was targeted at summer weddings and skewed towards high-end designer apparel.
“We obviously intend to take it forward from there. We will our learnings to make it better in the next editions, not necessarily at Chennai but maybe other malls as well,” said Rajendra Kalkar, president – west, The Phoenix Mills Ltd. Kalkar added that 50% of the things “you need from a value perspective are available at a mall.”
For brands like Regal, Raymond, Kalki, Manvayar, Meena Bazaar, Louis Philippe and Blackberrys, a surge in sales during wedding season is nothing new. What has changed though is the aggression malls are displaying to hawk their wares and make an event out of it.
“Brands do exclusive tie-ups with us and we make sure that we showcase them accordingly in our promotions,” said Manoj K Agarwal, CEO, Viviana Mall. “We provide them the space. Ideally, the visual merchandising part is more with the brand itself,” he said.
Viviana has extended its wedding fair this year by a week, making it a month-long extravaganza, and has also introduced the concept of a flea market. “Sales during the wedding fair are higher by around 10-12% for the mall compared to the rest of the months,” Agarwal said.
The numbers bear witness to this.
Entries for the couples’ contest that Viviana held rose to more than 2,000 this year from 600 in 2014 when it held its first wedding fair. The mall, in partnership with retailer Home Centre, eventually gave away a bedroom set to the winner.
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