06/10/2015
I visited the new Mall of the South the other day and I must admit I was rather disappointed.
I really expected it to have some WOW factor that would make me want to shop there rather than my usual shopping spots. When I saw all the glass area's from the road as it was being built, I thought, great, it will be light and airy and hopefully have a nice children's area with restaurants around.
Well, it is light and airy on the one side, and there are restaurants, but the restaurants look out over a parking lot! They also have a pathway between their seating area's that had a continual stream of people walking along with the poor waiters having to dodge between them to get to and fro between the kitchen and the customers.
Other than Spur's usual kiddies spot, there were no area's near the restaurants that would allow parents to sit and have their coffee or a meal whilst their children were kept busy playing.
Behind the mall is a beautiful little koppie which they could have used as a viewpoint for their restaurant area. Instead, they set their whole viewing area facing the 2 main roads the mall sits between, as well as overlooking their huge parking area.
We arrived at the mall with my poor son starving, as we'd decided to have brunch there and he hadn't eaten a thing in the morning. We found parking relatively easily and entered the mall at the Wimpy entrance. He wanted to stop right there, but we wanted to see if we could find a spot that had a little more ambiance (as Wimpy was right by the ground level parking lot).
There were no maps or any type of guide that showed how the mall was laid out (bearing in mind it had only opened on the 24th Sept), so we started our hike down the aisles. We eventually found a sign saying "Restaurants" which pointed to the left. We turned left (which was right at the other end of the mall from where we entered) and found a Checkers !
So we went upstairs and continued our hike back to where we'd started (with my son moaning in agony from hunger pangs!).
Eventually, back at the side we had first started, we contemplated going back to Wimpy, but eventually turned a corner and found a Spur and the other restaurants. After finding a table at Spur, we were told that "Sorry, but breakfast is finished for the day" - AARGH! So as that was what we had come for, we all got up and trekked downstairs to the Wimpy again.
As a Marketer, it continually amazes me that companies do not spend time researching what their customers want from their products or services. This does not even have to be major formal research, it's as easy as just asking, or even observing habits.
As far as I'm concerned, customers at malls have gone way past just wanting to shop, they are wanting a whole experience that adds value to their lives. As a mom, I want to be able to take the family for breakfast, lunch or dinner and enjoy my experience while the children are kept busy. I want to be able to find the stores I need as easily as possible as there are days when you want to browse and spend some time there and other days when you want to get in and out as quickly as possible. Yes, I will eventually get to know where the stores are if I am there often, but even in 5 years time you'll have newcomers to the mall, and they will have the same problems I did.
I am told that there is a 2nd phase to the mall, so let's see what surprises they may have in store for their customers - or not!
