No abstract

‘Men Buy and Women Shop’ proclaims a new Wharton Research on shopping habits of the American consumer (2007). There is found to be considerable difference in the way men and women shop in the West. Is this true across cultures? Indian retailing is generating considerable interest within the country and abroad. India has been rated as the fifth most attractive emerging retail market and was ranked first in a Global Retail Development Index of 30 developing countries drawn up by A T Kearney. Organized retail, best represented by the mushrooming malls, has come to play a defining role in building and supporting this veritable base of retail consumers. Therefore, it is of utmost interest to retailers and academia alike to understand the consumer dynamics behind the newly evolving consumption culture. This study explores mall‐shopping habits in India and attempts to identify and contrast possible differences between genders using a sample of 2721 mall consumers across seven cities. While the findings suggest that in India there are significant differences in shopping behaviour that can be ascribed to gender, there are fundamental questions about stereotyping of shopping as a feminine activity. To do this, discriminant analysis has been used to study whether shopping orientation and mall‐shopping attitudes can discriminate between male and female shoppers.

a faculty with the Institute of Technology and Management in the area of Retail and Marketing, has been in academics for the past fi ve years after a brief stint in the industry, where she held the position of Product Manager on her last assignment. She is currently pursuing her PhD with Birla Institute of Technology, Pilani, India. Her research interests are in varied fi elds including shopping center patronage, competitive strategies for small retailers and semiotics. J. Ganguliis currently the Chief Executive Offi cer of the Raghuleela Properties Pvt. Ltd, India which manages the Raghuleela malls. Raghuleela is part of the Wadhwa group of companies which is into major commercial, retail, residential, recreational and hospitality real estate development in India. He is an engineer by qualifi cation. In addition to being responsible for the Raghuleela malls, he is also part of the top management at Wadhwa and is involved in the group ' s other prestigious projects. AbstractOrganised Retail in India has seen remarkable growth in the last decade. In addition to the blossoming economy, one of the major drivers of this strong growth trajectory can be attributed to the rapid mall development in the country. This study, based on interviews with practicing retailers, mall managers and secondary data, tries to understand the analytical and fi nancial steps that are undertaken before setting up a mall, sources of fi nancing a mall and the sources of revenue and expenditure. On the basis of the fi ndings, some suggestions are also put forth to enable a better relationship between tenant and mall management, and to ease the growing pains currently faced by malls in India.