Lulu Group's new 19-acre Kerala mall will use technology, data to give consumers a super-enhanced experience

United Arab Emirates-based LuLu Group, known for running a retail chain of over 120 hypermarkets in the middle East, is planning to expand rapidly in India. And to expedite the process, the brand is using technology in its best form.
Explaining this, Business Head, Lulu Mall, Shibu Philips told Indiaretailing at India Shopping Centre Forum 2017, “We are using new technology to pre-cast the buildings of our new mall. This will help hasten the process of constructing the mall. By using this technology, we expect our mall to be ready in 24 months straight.”
He further added, “Apart from this, with respect to loyalty, we are using technologies like geo-fencing, beacon technology and ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition). We identify our customer the moment he/ she enters the mall as this technology helps in recognising number plates of cars and keeping track of customers. Presently, we have loyalty details of 1.5 lakh customers and we know what they shop for in our mall at the micro-level. Now, we have started interacting with them and ensuring that they get all timely information about our mall.”
LuLu Group has already one operational mall in India and it is working on numerous projects to expand its presence.
Elaborating on the same, Philips revealed, “We already have one operational mall in Kochi. A second shopping centre in Kerala – a smaller mall – will be operational by January 2018. Our pet project, however, is our third one in Thiruvananthapuram. This will be a shopping mall complete with a 2,000-seat conventional centre and a hotel. This is already under construction and will be operational by June 2019.”
The group is planning on invest Rs 2,000 crore in the development of the Thiruvananthapuram mall. The complex will cover 19 acres of land, located at the National Highway in Akkulam, making it the second biggest shopping mall in the country.
The mall will house the Lulu hypermarket as the anchor store and will house some of the best brands in the world in fashion, cosmetics, home furnishing, jewellery.
Other attractions include a food court with a capacity for 3,500 guests – the largest in India – restaurants, coffee shops and a nine-screen multiplex.
The mall, designed by UK-based Design International consultants, will have parking space for up to 3,000 cars with easy access from all main roads and will adopt the latest traffic management systems.
Lulu Mall has a built up area of more than 2 million sq.ft. in four floors along with a hotel and convention center.
“We have also acquired land for a mall in Lucknow. The drawings have already been sanctioned by the concerned authorities and we should start construction in the next two months. We are also going to set up shopping malls in Bengaluru and Vishakhapatnam as well,” Philips concluded.