Inorbit Malls: Innovating, transforming and reinventing shopping experiences

Inorbit Malls (India) Private Limited a subsidiary of the K. Raheja Corp, is the pioneer of the mall culture in India. The company opened its first mall in 2004 at Malad, Mumbai. Today, it has a national presence with 5 operating Malls in major metro cities Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Vadodara, Bengaluru and Cyberabad. Inorbit Malls has an universal appeal and plays an integral role in the life of consumers; they are a one-stop destination for food, fashion and entertainment. Inorbit has won more than 75 awards including India’s Most Trusted Mall by Brand Trust Report 2014 and has been recognized at various national & international forums like IMAGES Awards, Asia Pacific Shopping Centre Awards, WARC, ICSC, Asia Consumer Engagement Forum, EFFIEs and ABBYs for their commitment in establishing community connect.
As an organisation, Inorbit Malls has built all the capabilities required to ensure growth of its employees and foster an environment of innovation. Backed by the belief that ‘people are a company’s greatest asset and competitive advantage’, the organization stays true to its commitment of creating a culture where employees feel valued, engaged and empowered. Inorbit leads the way with exemplary people policies, which are carefully curated and collated from the best across industries.
Some of these include initiatives such as town-hall meetings, where an employee can address his/her query or concern to the CEO in an open forum. Executive development programs and continuous exposure to training and development gives employees the opportunity to develop themselves and ensure their growth within the organization. While work is important, work-life balance is given equal importance. Employees are engaged through interesting workshops like yoga and zumba sessions, a wide range of sports and cultural activities like cricket matches and seasonal parties. They also have the cyclist club and have tie-ups with holiday homes to help employees feel connected both at work and with their families. Programs like Parichay (introduction of employee within the company) help new employees connect and become part of the Inorbit family easily.
As an organisation, Inorbit Malls has stayed at the fore-front of leading initiatives such as Women empowerment, improving the gender diversity ratio and implementing Performance Measurement Metrics. The women empowerment initiative was also extended to consumers with the launch of Pink Power -a platform provided to help women entrepreneurs launch their business initiatives in the mall. The mall offers them free space for 9 months during which they are able to learn and improve on their business ideas before they expand their footprint.
Success of Inorbit Malls across the years has been the result of the brand’s belief that the strategy for a mall involves a gamut of things – from an understanding of the micro-market and location to size, design and layout of the mall to a carefully selected tenant mix. Operational efficiencies are critical to ensure that the mall delivers optimum value to all stakeholders. For example, to ensure better service levels, they have an app that enables partner retailers to log operational complaints on daily basis. This has helped streamline the complaint management system and increased efficiencies by ensuring that the complaints as addressed in a shorter period of time.
As a national chain of malls, Inorbit understood the needs of the consumer to have a perfect blend of global and Indian offerings. Strategically crafted communication and marketing plans ensure that consumers get a perfect mix of the same. With their retail offering being global, the mall also organizes flea markets and other shopping festivals where the local flavor comes alive. Over the years, as consumer expectations and aspirations have changed, Inorbit Malls has also focused on incorporating technology in all aspects of the business. The Inorbit app is an interface between the customers and the mall. They have rolled out the latest interactive digital directories which help consumers search brands and offers while making it even easier for them to navigate their way to the store. A two-way communication channel through the feedback section has also been incorporated. The company takes feedback seriously and has incorporated many interesting initiatives based on consumer ideas.
Inorbit Malls has digitised different touch points to offer an enhanced experience to its customers. It introduced the “SHOP ONLINE” feature which gives customers the convenience to browse and shop from a variety of brands present in the mall. It also offers convenient features like ‘Click &Pick’ and ‘Shopping bag delivery’ within 24 hours of purchase. In the last 16 years, Inorbit Malls has consistently reinvented itself to stay relevant to retailers and consumers.
“At Inorbit, we are making efforts to provide aspirational shopping experience catering to social needs of our consumers. We want our malls to become a part of the customer’s lifestyle. Upgrading our retail offerings and keeping up pace with better product offering, increasing the space allocation for F&B, entertainment and movies are the new growth trends across the industry and we want to polish them to stay relevant for our customers,” Rajneesh Mahajan, CEO, Inorbit Malls.
Achievements
Inorbit Malls has won more than 75 awards since inception and has been recognised by various industry bodies at different industry platforms including ICSC Asia Pacific Shopping Centre Awards, WARC, Abbys, Effie’s, & DMA Asia to name a few. Inorbit Malls has been recognized among India’s Great Mid-size Workplaces and among India’s Best Workplaces for Women in 2018 & 2019.
Future Plans
The future plans are to add close to 4 mn sq.ft. They already have ready plans for 2 million sq.ft for which construction will commence soon. They have also built a pipeline for another two million square feet.
Upgrade Plans
In keeping with the company’s core values of innovating and creating destinations that appeal to changing consumer expectations, Inorbit has launched ‘The Orb’ at the JW Marriott, Sahar. The project is a mixed used development with include the JW Marriott Hotel, Banquets, Retail and Commercial space.
The Orb will be Mumbai’s first integrated food & beverage destination spread over 1.20 lakh sq ft. with some iconic restaurants with international & Indian cuisine.
Technological Advancements
The Inorbit ChatBot is an additional service that the  mall is providing to customers  across all 5 geographies. It is a  voice-to-text assistant which  will have information related  to brands, services, deals,  offers & relevant FAQs about  Inorbit. The Bot will also be  a platform for interactive  sessions like quizzes where  winners will be gratified with  vouchers or gifts.
“The Chat Bot is live but  in testing phase currently.  It aims to provide quick,  updated information through  an interactive session anytime  anywhere about Inorbit,”  shares Mahajan.
Inorbit Malls continues to  invest in technology and other  areas to bring solutions that help simplify the lives of all  its stakeholders. As a brand,  they believe in creating and  offering new experiences to  their consumers for creating a  recall value for the brand and  ensure repeat visits from their patrons.
Inorbit Malad, Mumbai
Inorbit Malad was launched in 2004 in western suburbs of Mumbai and has been upgraded twice in the last 16 years. The internal revamp of the mall was completed in 2013 and the external in 2017. Each revamp was done to enhance customer experience by upgrading the mall’s offering in a neighbourhood which was changing at a rapid pace. This ensured that the mall retained its relevance over the years and continued to win the loyalty and support of its key customers. From 2004, when it was considered the launch pad for many brands the mall continues to remain the launch pad for newer brands even today. With each passing year, the mall has been witness to changes in almost 3 generations of Indian families who have become a part of the Inorbit family and continues to grow with the support of brand partners and customers.
“In the last 16 years, we have experienced the changing dynamics in the catchment, consumption patterns, retail offerings and of course competition. We have tried to stay relevant to the catchment and provide high quality shopping experience to consumers. Along with bringing new brands into the mall we have also increased space allocation for F&B and entertainment. Our efforts have shown the results in year-on-year consumption growth through these years,” states Mahajan.
With the consumption patterns changing, the mall has allocated space so as to increase the assortment of fashion brands. Brands like H&M, Project Eve, Steve Madden, Bobbi Brown, Cover Story to name a few were signed in to ensure that Inorbit Malad continues to remain the fashion destination of choice for its consumers. The Multiplex revamp has only added to the glamour quotient of the mall. The multiplex has been expanded from 7 to 11 screens. Other interesting changes from a facilities and design point of view have also been incorporated to ensure that the environment adds to the shopping experience.
Additional set of escalators from basement parking to the food court level have been incorporated to facilitate the vertical movement. The façade of the mall has been redesigned in line with international designs. Seating capacity in the food court was carefully planned and increased. Revamping common areas like mall toilets, atrium, lobbies, entry bridges and soft roof were executed to enhance the customer experience. The mall has also ensured that it is working towards sustainable solutions. LED lights in common areas and organic waste converters were installed to reduce the carbon footprint of the mall.
Highlighting other changes, Mahajan shares, “Our multiplex is now live with IMAX, MX4D, ONYX led screen and premium insignia’s, and we have recently opened ScreenX, which is a multi-projection screen covering 3 walls that gives a 270 degree wide movie format making it the only multiplex in the world to have so many formats under one roof. Our FEC, #NEXTGENTIMEZONE was also revamped and now has elements which focuses on young adults along with kids and families. The store layout and design has transformed from a playful and colorful store. It has been given more of an urbane and futuristic look. Lit signage’s for major concept zones and unique sky grid lighting in the store, enhances the entire layout. There are new games that have been added like Krazee whirl – Unlike other bumper cars, this game has a dual joystick with attractive LED illumination in the base of the cars. These highlights elevate the experience and adds the fun element which is a perfect mix for both youth and kids. Some of the other new games like Virtual Rabbit, Willy Wonka, and Family Bowling are extremely addictive and appeal to every age group. The mall has witnessed a complete facelift in the last 2 years. Structural changes were made with better Inorbit Cyberabad, Hyderabad, which started operations in October 2009, was upgraded in 2014 with the addition of 23 new premium fashion brands. “Since its inception, Inorbit Mall at Hyderabad, has been recognized as the most favored shopping destination. In our continued efforts to offer a supreme shopping experience, upgradation of various areas of space allocation to increase the assortment of fashion brands,” he adds.
After incorporating all these changes, the mall has been successful in reducing operational costs by a significant level, increasing footfall and improving customer circulation, retention and inclusion of latest brands, which works as a delight for customers. The newer brands are contributing highly towards the growth of mall consumption.  Malad recently revamped the  external garden court area,  which is an open arena for  kids and families. The space is  designed keeping in mind the  recreational needs and scarcity  of open spaces for children in  the city. With several attractions  like kiddie rides, soft play area,  eating options, a water fountain  and a stage for performances  and events, the garden court will  be open for customers shortly.
Inorbit Cyberabad, Hyderabad
Inorbit Cyberabad, Hyderabad,  which started operations in October 2009, was upgraded in  2014 with the addition of 23 new  premium fashion brands.
“Since its inception, Inorbit  Mall at Hyderabad, has been  recognized as the most favored  shopping destination. In our  continued efforts to offer a  supreme shopping experience,  upgradation of various areas of  the mall was carried out to give  a premium ambience, look and  feel,” Mahajan says.
The upgradation included  interiors of the mall like the  entrance lobby, lift lobby,  concierge desk, basement lobby,  flooring and atrium areas of all  floors.
Amenity areas such as toilets  were upgraded with additional  mother care room, vanity room, family room, waiting area, water cooler area to add to customer  comfort and convenience. The  connecting corridor to these  amenities were made more  dynamic by adding graphic  walls.
“Façade and food court  renovation, retail floor extension  and 7-level of commercial office  is part of our future expansion,”  he adds.