Indonesian Malls have Plenty of Visitors, but Fewer Sales

Malls in Indonesia have little problems in attracting visitors and shoppers, as malls are accompanied by opulent attractions such as children’s rides, slippery slides to fake European boulevards making for a very favourable shopping experience.

Although retail sales are dropping, the number of window shoppers continue hasn’t been affected as the recession continues to hover on a global level. However, interestingly enough, this fact has not ceased any efforts to open new malls in Jakarta. One has a planned seven-storey slide and private conference rooms, while another has a Moulin Rouge-style indoor windmill.

In a country where 70 million people live on less than $2 a day, malls have remained a far-fetched deal to many Indonesians. Anton Gunaway, the Bank Danamon chief economist says that the problem now is that Indonesia’s rich are now starting to feel wraths of the recession as well, affecting sales everywhere.

With 100 malls in full-fledged operation, and 10 more on it’s way in Jakarta alone, the fact of the matter is that Jakarta is just plain over-mall- supplied according to Danamon. Although the gloomy economic outlook, as appears to be the case everywhere, managers say they are optimistic about Indonesia’s mall growth spurt continuing. While managers keep their fingers crossed that good times will soon roll, bored shop assistants and the brand new FX mall in Jakarta sit in their chairs, twiddle their fingers and send text messages from their mobile phones to kill time at malls.