India’s thriving shopping malls may draw in the crowds but dozens of high streets across the country are holding their own by creating niche markets.
In the big cities, each has between two and four high streets featuring a range of big name domestic and international brands. Far from being copies of one another, these high streets – the bazaars of yesteryear – have unique selling points either in terms of the products they offer, their local neighbourhood or how they’re viewed by consumers.
While some own their popularity to being ‘destination’ high streets, others are transit orientated, according to new research from JLL.
Destination high streets have created a niche for themselves either in terms of the products they sell or their novelty appeal, explains Anuj Puri, Chairman, JLL India. “For instance, the Hiranandani Powai high street situated around the eastern suburbs of Mumbai comprises majorly of food and beverage outlets (which account for close to 50 percent of the total brands present there). Despite being away from major transit areas, this high street manages to attract food enthusiasts from a wide range of localities, succeeding primarily on the niche the market has created around this category.”
Other destination high streets rely on the presence of exclusive brands or long established stores such as Amarsons, Premsons or Akbarally’s, which have a loyal clientele existing long before the first mall arrived in India. “Being less omnipresent and the fact that they offer exclusive collections make such stores attractive to discerning customers,” adds Puri. As such, brands looking to raise their profiles within their target audience need to choose the right destination high street from the many different options out there.
Location, location, location
Transit-orientated high streets on the other hand lie close to businesses, tourist attractions, railways and metro stations whether Connaught Place in Delhi, Brigade Road and Commercial Street in Bangalore, Begumpet in Hyderabad or Colaba Causeway in Mumbai. Such locations suit brands looking for volume growth, according to Puri.
He believes that the individual characteristics that contribute to the success of each high street today will play an integral role both in what they look like and their success in years to come. However, they must also embrace change.
“High streets must adapt to changes taking place in the city, as well as in customer preferences. Managing change is much trickier for high streets than it is for malls, since nothing is really centralized and manageable from a ‘control panel’ perspective. Nevertheless, change is inevitable and important – with high streets as much as the larger Indian retail scenario – the defining concept is a constant and necessary process of evolution,” he says.
And those that do adapt with the times will be best placed to fight against the challenges posed by malls by continuing to meet the needs of consumers. Suvishesh Valsan, Assistant Vice President, Research, at JLL India says: “The prominent high streets have managed to leave a favourable impression upon their customers. Frequent shoppers that we surveyed were of the opinion that high streets offer better deals than malls. In recent times, we have seen mall managers trying to overcome this perception by offering mall-wide discount periods, obviously with participation of all brands present in the mall.”
It’s a battle which is only set to intensify in the future. “In years to come we see thin variation between popular high streets and Grade B malls across the leading cities,” concludes Puri.
The post Character counts on India’s high streets appeared first on RealViews.