Retailers and mall managers are cheering Bollywood successes like the Aamir Khan-starrer PK as there is a strong correlation between a hit film and footfalls. Houseful multiplexes in malls means better sales for products such as apparels, toys and F&B.
For example, in July-August, Salman Khan-starrer Kick helped in attracting higher footfalls in most malls, while in December-January it has been the turn of PK .
“A mall like ours has about one million sq.ft. Our multiplex has a seating capacity of 2,000. If there is a hit film with 100 per cent occupancy, the footfall goes up by 5-10 per cent,” says T Anupam, CEO of R City Mall in Mumbai. “Ancillaries like food and beverages, apparels, children’s toys also get a leg up if the film is family-oriented.” Several retailers, plagued by the rising popularity of e-commerce, are now betting on Bollywood hits to drive up footfalls.
(Footfall is a measure of how successful a company is at drawing people in.)
Shoppers Stop CEO Govind Shrikhande says a hit movie guarantees footfalls. “We have tracked it all over again. When a store is under renovation, definitely the footfalls fall. No. 2 is the calendar of movie releases. So if you look at quarter one, there is hardly any big movie release,” he said.
According to Anand Sundaram, CEO, Pioneer Property Zone, a mall management firm, “Most malls that house multiplexes have about 800-2,000 seats. On an average, five shows of a movie are played a day. "
"Even if we take an average of 1,500 seats occupied during one show, it works to about 7,500 people on any given day. This huge additional footfall from a hit film does add to the overall traction,” he said.