Food Outlets in Malls - Whipping up appetite to shop

This one is particularly tricky. More so, because there is hardly any statistical evidence for or against the hypothesis—do food joints in malls help drive retail sales? Will Pareto’s 80:20 rule of thumb hold valid in this case? Maybe yes, maybe no! While in the wake of recession, buying another bag became a ‘luxury’, eating out was a ‘comfort’ worth indulging in. People didn’t stop eating out; they just started eating out less often. “An average consumer eats out seven times in a month. Half the instances of eating out are standalone events. At other times, eating out is clubbed with shopping, watching a movie or simply to catch up with friends and relatives,” says Saloni Nangi, VP, Technopak Advisors. The recent Technopak study also points out that 23% of people engaged in shopping while eating out.

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