INVESTIGATING THE SIGNIFICANCE OF FOOD OUTLETS IN SHOPPING MALLS

Abstract

Food outlets, in the form of restaurants, food courts, food kiosks and cafes also contribute to a great extent to a shopping mall. Every shopping mall that has been built to date has included food outlets of various types. Thus there is a need to identify the significance of food outlets to the success and good performance of a shopping mall. The significance of food outlets to a shopping mall is investigated by looking at the contribution of food outlets towards the success (defined by the respondents, based on stipulated criteria) of a shopping mall, the impact of the number of food outlets on the performance (measured using a performance indicator) of a shopping mall and the impact of tenant placement of food outlets on the performance of a shopping mall. The contribution of food outlets towards the success of a shopping mall is defined by three factors, frequency of visits to food outlets in a shopping mall, expenditure on food in a shopping mall and combination of types and quantity of food outlets in a shopping mall. Upon evaluation of the survey findings, it was found that, there is a positive relationship between the contribution of food outlets and the success of a mall. There is a positive relationship between the number of food outlets in a shopping mall and the performance of a shopping mall, subject to a threshold. And there is a positive relationship between tenant placement of food outlets in a shopping mall and the performance of a shopping mall. Pearson’s Correlation was used to test these relationships as well. 3 As part of an extension to the study, the relationship between number of food outlets and frequency of visits to the shopping mall by respondents, and the relationship between tenant placement of food outlets and the frequency of visits to the shopping mall were also tested. The testing showed that both relationships were weak. The analysis performed in this study thus gives a better understanding of the significance of food outlets in a shopping mall.