Best Practices

Overview

A familiar name with residents in the NorthEast district, Hougang Mall houses a stronger-than-ever family orientation with household names like Harvey Norman, NTUC Fair Price, POPULAR Bookstore and Cheng San Community Library and the opening of new wings at Basement 1 as well as Level 2 after its revamp.

Strategy

Mission

Hougang Mall’s wanted to project itself as ‘The Community Mall ‘– a trusted local mall with everyday shopping and leisure for all the family. This message was communicated clearly and extensively through its website.

Hougang Mall converted level 5 to shops catering to children’s fashion, childcare centre, children’s enrichment classes and beauty and wellness outlets.

Product & Service Mix

The shop trade-mix in the mall catered to every member of the family - there are 37 eateries and family restaurants serving a wide variety of foods for the family, anchor tenants included NTUC Fair Price Supermarket, National Library, Harvey Norman and Popular Book Store.

The mall also leases out its promotional spaces and pushcarts that attract families such as sand-art and children toys.

Marketing & Promotions

An annual Advertising & Promotion plan was developed and implemented to promote the product and services of the mall. Marketing channels included advertisements, in-mall posters and media write-ups.

The advertising and promotional activities planned were family centric and emphasized FUN for the families, e.g. The Family Camp Out encourages families to camp and do activities together to win a contest. These activities were aligned to the mall’s plans to revamp itself as a family-centric mall.

Service

Service Attitude

All the Customer Service Officers (CSO) are trained and are familiar with SOPs relating to telephone greetings, handling lost child/lost property situations.

The mall initiated Go the Extra Mile for Service (GEMS) training for the tenants to improve overall service level of the mall.

Safety first

In terms of emergency preparedness, staff are trained in basic first-aid and handling of crisis or emergency management situations; including counter terrorism measures, fire drills and other types of emergencies.

Infrastructure

Access & Layout

Space layout in the mall generally provided wide enough aisles and walkways for wheelchairs, prams and strollers.

Facilities

To ensure the customers have a more pleasant time at the mall, it provided free WIFI services, AXS machine and nursing room located at Level 5, Baby changing stations and handicap toilets (on every level), lower basins and urinals for kids in toilets, handicap parking lot. These facilities cater to the different needs of every member of the family.