Amusement arcades in shopping malls are really catching on at the moment in India.
Timezone Entertainment India has opened six such arcades in the last two years. Chief executive Sonal Chopra said: “India has a huge youth population and entertainment is one of the key drivers of growth in any mall. A mall needs to have a strong entertainment package to encourage loyalty.”
Another operator, Galaxy Entertainment, operates 13 family entertainment centres in shopping malls. These centres have bowling alleys, bumper cars, video games, pool tables and football machines.
Such entertainment centres feed off mall traffic, whereas stand-alone bowling alleys and other entertainment locations that opened in the years before India’s mall boom were largely unsuccessful because they couldn’t attract enough customers on their own.
“We are an essential part of the mall’s marketing strategy,” said Sanjay Seksaria, a director of Galaxy Entertainment. “We don’t really draw footfall, but we increase consumption and increase the time people spend in the mall.”
For many customers that visit India’s shopping malls, the arcades are now the main attraction.
