Home > Resources > Why Your Target Audience will Make or Break your Business in Malls

Why Your Target Audience will Make or Break your Business in Malls

First Published: 25 Mar 2021

Last Updated: 25 Mar 2021

Your target audience for malls is the determinant of your business success in malls. What can you do if you are failing? We have come up with questions you can ask yourself to help get back on the right track.

"Everyone" is not a Target Audience

This is one of our favourite topics to discuss with customers. Every time we ask them “ Who is your target audience”, 90% of the answer is a variation of “Anyone who likes my food”, “Families and youngsters”, “Anyone who can pay for my products”, etc.

We rarely hear statements of, “Oh my target audience are customers between 20-45 years old, likes trendy stuffs, English speaking, shops in heartland area, loves new concept, etc”.

A lack of a clear target audience explains why some people fail even in the top tiered malls. They are in the wrong place with the wrong group of shoppers, even though they enjoy an amazing number of footfalls in the mall.

And so, knowing your target audience is something that we push our customers to really think about before we explore any spaces with them.

Take this example – If you are selling a Modern concept Granola with yoghurt and with an average spending of more than $9.00 per order. Do you think you will do well if we get you a space in Chinatown? Or will you have a better chance in the Orchard Road shopping belt?

Target Audience Exercise, Working Backwards

Let’s do a simple exercise to get you thinking in detail, who your target audience are:

Based on your current group of customers, who are they?
How old are they? What age group are they in? 20 – 45 years old? 25-30 years old?
You may have regular customers, who are these people?
What do they like about your service/product offerings?
What are their hobbies/interest?
Is it price they are after?
Where can you locate these customers?
Where can you locate other customers like them?
Can you clone another group of such great customers in another town/mall?

Thus, you would not have to re-invent the wheel. You can look at past data and information based on your current success formula and replicate it. It’s simply cloning success.

Target Audience Exercise, From Scratch

New to the game, and those with no historical data to rely on may have to take on a larger risk.

The questions you will be asking answering would be entirely different from the above:

Is my concept for the younger or more mature crowd?
For this crowd, what would the age range be?
So where does people of these age range shop at, or where can I find them?
Does my brand packaging have to be trendy? What would appeal to them?
Do they have disposable income? How conscious will they be on my pricing?
How should I price my products so that they bite and not feel a pain in their pocket, for them to return to my business.
Would my concept need to be social? Would it need to be very Instagram-able to appeal to my audience?
So which malls have these target audiences?

Target Audience Exercise, Currently Failing

So the last question you may have is – What if I am currently failing in an existing mall?

If you are in this situation, first off, like any kind of emergency, do not panic. Stay calm and recompose yourself. Look at those who are buying from your current setup and the audience you are appealing to right now.

Train your staff to talk to your customers and ask the following:

What do you like about our products?
Which is your favourite and why?
What do you think about the price?
Why do you keep coming back? What’s the innate reason?
If you had a magic wand, what’s one thing you would change about us?

With these findings, make the necessary adjustments to your concept, and we believe that there’s a good chance that things will make a turn for the better… or even best! Honestly these are good question to have your staff ask customers regardless of how you’re performing.

We have seen a lot of sad examples where people just give up and lose a lot of money. How we wish that we could have had a quality conversation with them…

Big Picture: 11 Steps to Get Your Business into Shopping Malls

If you are wondering how can you get into malls, we have created an infographic below that can help you with your process — Find out more in detail here: 11 Steps to Get Your Business into Shopping Malls.

We Know Malls and Have Your Interest in Mind

Have an idea? Looking to expand? Found a mall you want entering? Let us know and we’ll be pleased to help you! We have a team of real estate relationship managers, business consultants, interior design consultants, marketing consultants, fulfillment consultants, and much more to assist you in any queries you may have.

Getting into a mall requires a process and it starts with your concept. Got a great idea for the mall? Talk to us and we can make it happen for you by recommending suitable malls and spaces for your needs. We know the in and out of Malls and will be with you every step of the way!