With a catchment growing at the rate of 20% every year and the new connectivity to the city, Capital Mall in Bhopal India will increase the primary catchment population by approximately 500,000 customers in the coming years. The centre traffic of the mall have been growing year on year by over 50% and conversions stand at about 80%. India’s immense growth is not one that can be compared with around the world, especially Australia.
With the government creating 100 smart cities in India, now it is the time to create a ‘Smart Mall’. To kick-start the race Capital Mall, Bhopal is gearing up to become the first ‘Smart Mall’ of India. The mall is undergoing various technical and infrastructural changes to accommodate the tag of a ‘Smart Mall’. The Mall will have 100% Internet (4G) connectivity to all customers coming to the Mall. The parking management system is being upgraded to make it cashless and also with digital parking management, with the ease of navigation in the parking lot and also bay identification.
The ‘Visual Digital’ experience of the mall is being created by an international company from UK, to create the first 4D Digital experience in the Mall, which will be spread over 40,000 sq. ft. across the mall.
The ‘Visual Digital’ experience will include a Visual (LED), Sound, Water & Fire (all combined) show, in the central atrium of the mall, creating an amazing customer experience , at the same time creating a ‘wow’ factor for the mall.
Even the ambient lighting in the mall would be converted to digital, with lumen sensors. The smart Capital Mall will have an app to help navigate shoppers to various stores, along with their range, offers and discounts. The owners of Capital Mall have already invested about 5 crores till now and shall further invest about 10 crores in the next 2 years to convert this into a ‘Smart Mall’ which will make the investment a national benchmark
Speaking about the Smart Mall initiative, Mukesh Kumar, Managing Director of Capital Malls says “We would like to match our mall to the expectations of with todays’ smart customers, despite being in a tier two city, we are stamping Bhopal on the national map. Bhopal already marks number two in the Swachh Bharat initiative, we are complementing the city by making the first ‘Smart Mall’ here.”
Capital Mall will also have the largest Entertainment Centre in Central India with options of Gaming, Horror House, Mastii Zone, 7D Cinema, Snow Mastii and many more including outdoor adventure activities.
Talking on the development Susil Dungarwal, Chief Mall Mechanic, Beyond Squarefeet, the mall management company says “While the mall owners are putting in all efforts in converting the mall into Smart Mall, we are working on creating a smart retail mix and experience in the mall. We have already tied up with various national & international retailers for the mall, most of who will be first time in Bhopal. Our focus is to create a unique tenant mix & category mix, further adding to its uniqueness. Capital Mall is a first of its kind business model in India and the company are looking to convert more malls in India to be Smart Malls”.
