Retail therapy under scanner

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Retail therapy under scanner

Sunday, 14 June 2020 | MUSBA HASHMI

Retail therapy under scanner

Since Unlock 1.0 was announced on June 8, many public places have opened their doors to people, keeping in mind the guidelines issued by the Government and social distancing norms. But is it safe to visit such places like malls? MUSBA HASHMI brings you a report

During lockdown, all that people could talk about was when would the malls open and they would be able to go for retail therapy. However, India has not been able to keep its COVID-19 numbers in check despite the curfew measures that were in place. In fact, since the lockdown  eased, the number of cases has seen a steady rise with the Capital recording more than 2000 cases in a single day.  

However, the Delhi Government has said that it has no intention to re-impose the lockdown. The news has brought in relief to a lot of people who were tired of being cooped up at home and also the mall owners in cities like Lucknow, Noida, Bengaluru and Ahemdabad. But many feel that there was no hurry to reopen the malls, given the present situation. Is it safe to visit a mall amidst rising Corona cases? This is the question that needs to be addressed foremost.

Nimish Arora, Director & Interim CEO, Select Citywalk, says that in cognizance of the new normal, the shopping centre is following strict standard operating procedures as per  the Government directives to ensure  utmost safety. “The shopping centre has introduced subtle changes in design and layout across entrances and public spaces. Crowd control and footfall are being kept as outlined by the Government across the premises and retail outlets to ensure that social distancing norms are followed correctly. The shopping centre staff is doing temperature checks at entry points, with visitors passing through disinfectant tunnels for additional safety if they are comfortable to walk through it,” he tells you.

The shopping centre is recommending visitors to adhere to all the measures and wear masks. “A visitor registration book is being maintained for record, and all visitors are being advised to have the Aarogya Setu app on their phones. The same checks are in place for mall staff and retail operators. Exhaustive training of all support staff, F&B and retail outlets was conducted prior to opening for these checks and balances to be put in place,” Arora adds.

To ensure that social distancing norms are followed inside the mall, markings for social distancing are present on escalators which will operate on a limited capacity, with a maximum of four people inside. The air conditioning is maintained as per the Central Public Works Department guidelines.

Similarly, another shopping centre  Ambience Mall, Vasant Kunj, is making sure that it keeps its premises infection free.

“We are sanitising the premises every two hours. The frontline staff is provided with PPE kits and sanitisers are placed at all entry points. As of now only 60 per cent of the stores are functional and the rest are gearing up to open in the coming weeks,” a spokesperson of the mall tells you. The stores are advised to not allow more than 50 customers in one go.

The footfall, for obvious reasons, has seen a massive decline. “Now we have around 8,000 people visiting the mall daily as compared to 35,000 earlier, before Corona hit India. On weekends, it was as high as 65,000 per day. However, keeping in mind the current situation the numbers are still good,” he says. The coming few weeks, he says, will not see any increase in visitors and that the mall is prepared for that.

The DLF Avenue Saket mall is currently operating with 50 per cent staff. Pushpa Bector, Head Retail, DLF Avenue Saket tells you that the mall has deployed automated system to keep a check on the social distancing norms.

“For keeping a check on social distancing norms we have automated systems to control the footfall in the mall, apart from this, we have several tangible reminders for them to observe social distance. From having floor markers to continuously displaying social distancing messages on screens, we are constantly sending out these vital messages. Additionally all our retail partners are serving their customers as per the Government advisory which includes restricted customer presence in their individual stores as well to observe social distancing norms,” she says. Like the other two malls, DLF Avenue too is observing low footfall. “Understandably the footfall is low at present, and it supports our stringent observation of social distancing norms. The footfall is expected to pick up as we go along when people realise that malls accord a higher degree of safety compared to the high street owing to our ability to control the ingress and thereby the internal environment at large,” Bector tells you.

One is told that the mall utilised the lockdown phase to establish new norms and ensure to live up to the standards. “Our customers are also educating themselves and bringing these practises into their routine. As they will start coming to the mall, and experience the level of our preparedness first hand for their safety, we are very sure that gradually and steadily positive customer sentiments are going to be boosted. Our target audience is discerning, educated and widely travelled and I am sanguine that they feel a lot safer at our malls,” Bector says.

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