New Delhi : The Realty giant DLF having luxury malls in Delhi, Gurugram, Noida and other parts of the country will focus more Food and Beverages (F&B) and allocate more than 30 Per Cent space to dining options from present 11 per cent.

“Fashion is important, but our study in our various malls consistently shows shopping is not the major reason people come to malls. An overall shift in emphasis as  an average persons spends Three to Five hours in a mall. The  increasing popularity of dining out is revitalising retail real estate around the globe by creating a true sense of community where people can go out to dinner, take in a movie and shop, all in one place” said Ms Ms Savitri Singh, Director, DLF family office, while speaking at an Interactive session ‘Transforming retail landscape: innovative concepts and new opportunities’ organised by FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO) here late last evening .

“Successful malls need to incorporate certain elements, including enough parking space, and good facilities, food and beverage brands and entertainment centres, combining these elements will help drive footfall at malls”  She said.

“Another interesting fact in our regular study we have found that about 55 Per cent of mall customers are men   and they are targeted shoppers unlike women” She added.

“Despite onslaught of online shopping The TOUCH And FEEL of products will still remain shoppers still visit malls for buying goods” she said.

“The Future Group’s Future Group’s premium lifestyle and food superstore ‘Foodhall’ which has 12 outlets in Delhi Mumbai and Bangalore has been the first format in India to champion the availability of international products and the brand has noticed an exponential growth year-on-year. Over time, it has noticed that cuisine based products have been showing a rapid growth.” Said Ms Avni Biyani, Concept head of Foodhall-Future Group speaking on the occasion

“ With Future group tie up with New Zealand based  global dairy exports firm Fonterra is expected to help the company strengthen its position in the Indian dairy market .It will enhance its food and FMCG portfolio and will offer a variety of dairy products which are high in demand and consumed daily.” She said.

“The Foodhall and Future group  will be focussing more on ‘Farm to Fork’ concept in coming days with sourcing most of it’s farm fresh procucts from  it’s ‘India Food Park’ which has come up in Tumkur, near Bengaluru city in Karnataka under public-private partnership (PPP) model. It is a first-of-its-kind integrated food park to be commissioned and has been. The facility has already started production.” She added.

Ms Brahmani Nara , Executive Director, Heritage Foods speaking on the occasion said” Heritage Foods  procures 15 lakh litres of milk from 3.5 lakh farmers across the country twice a day, Indians still prefer fresh milk and milk products, the long shelf life milk products has still not taken off. The company plans to focus more on various variety of yoghurt s that is going to be more organised market in future. The company also plans to foray into NCR market in big way with target of selling One lakh litres of milk in the region.”

“As the competitive environment constantly evolves, retailers face a never-ending parade of new challenges. Selective optimization is no longer enough – companies must fundamentally overhaul their business models. The mail-order companies were the first to feel the tremors – the rise of online players like Amazon and Zalando had forever altered the rules of the marketplace. Now the ground under bricks-and mortar retailers has become shaky as well. Online players have driven the level of competition to unprecedented levels.” Said Ms Pinky Reddy, , President, FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO) speaking on the occasion .

 “As a part of its activities, FLO brings together women achievers for interactive sessions on breaking through challenges, beating the odds, walking the pathways of success and playing the role of inspirational role model for women around the globe. Today’s session has been organised primarily to expedite the processes for creating and enhancing women entrepreneurs as also to provide them with the right approach to creating an effective business plan In The Retail Industry. ” Said Ms Pinky Reddy.

 “The main aspects of today’s retail innovation include voice of the customer, materials innovation, digital product creation, smart connect products, mass customization, and crowdsourcing for design. These areas also draw maximum investment” she said.