F&B: The New Anchor to Increase the Footfall As malls shift their stance from being just shopping centres to community hubs, retail is just becoming a part of the mix. Today, shopping can be done online, e-commerce giving the evolved consumer a wide variety and absolute convenience. So, what brings people to malls anymore Shopping centre developers are working towards understanding the new consumer and studying his needs and consequently, re-thinking their strategies. They are mindful of the fact that the new-age customer steps out of his house only in search of something new, and this is one of the main reasons why food has become a mall ‘anchor’. Being eating out destinations – apart from providing retail and entertainment – means a mall has a very wholesome approach towards pulling in visitors.Providing unique dining out possibilities to customers is proving to be a winning formula with studies suggesting that 40 percent of customers will choose a shopping centre based solely on the food offeringsthere. Apart from this, transactions increase as much as 25 percent at malls with quality food-and beverage options and shoppers who eat at the mall are spending up to 15 percent more per trip.