SNS Blog

Malaysians love their malls, not just for the shopping and food, but also for the extras they provide in services to make the outing pleasant and convenient.

WHAT makes one shopping complex different from another? Apart from its anchor store and host of shopping and food outlets, it is the little touches that make shoppers sigh in relief, smile with appreciation or simply put up their feet.

A good mall will come up with services that will make shopping, parking, resting and even taking a toilet break more convenient for the hundreds that frequent the place, especially on weekends.

And with competition stiff in the cities, more so in the Klang Valley, shopping malls are constantly on the look out for ways to improve on their facilities, services and festive displays to hook in the shoppers.

It is a common sight now to see them providing free hand sanitizers at strategic points, benches placed along the aisles for shoppers to take a breather and also free wifi throughout the entire mall.

In premier suburb mall 1 Utama Shopping Centre, for example, the washroom is fitted with a potty for mummy and another for the toddler, all in the same cubicle!

This makes things a lot easier for mummies to help their little ones as the cubicles are usually bigger than the average ones and equipped with a wash basin. Some malls even have table tops to facilitiate mothers having to change their toddlers’ clothing.

Some popular malls have also gone eco-friendly by providing waterless urinals. There is no need to flush at the urinals as each of them is coated with a special chemical, called BioCare Liquid which breaks down urine into environmental friendly components without using water.

This is part of the mall’s effort to conserve water and reduce wastage to help the environment. As the breakdown of the urine takes place immediately upon contact, this system ensures the urinals are always hygienic. This chemical is changed weekly to ensure its effectiveness.

Everyone knows that driving to a shopping mall, especially on weekends can be a dreadful experience.

Just looking for a parking spot alone can make the whole trip a nightmare and sometimes it can take more than half and hour.

Hence, malls like Sunway Pyramid have come up with a car park guiding system. There will be car park bay indicators installed at every parking spot to indicate if the parking bay is available or not.

A green light above shows a bay is free while a red light tells you that the bay has already been taken.

“This system has made my journey to Sunway a breeze because I no longer need to drive around aimlessly looking for a spot. I find that I don’t have to fight with other drivers as well because I can see the coloured bulb from far away,” says Michelle Tan, a regular shopper there. Most shopping malls offer free buggy rides in the car park area especially for those who cannot carry all the shopping bags to their cars.

In Sunway Pyramid, the buggies are available inside the mall, ferrying the elderly, disabled as well as expectant mothers to their desired destination.

The buggy can easily fit up to five persons and but is only available on the Ground Floor. The service is free.

The ones at The Curve Mutiara Damansara are called power shopping carts. Pay a small amount for the deposit and leave your identification card at the Concierge and the machine is yours to manoeuvre.

Ever run out of battery while in a shopping mall and desperately need to get your phone charged? If you are in Sunway Pyramid, you’re in luck as it offers this emergency service for RM1 at its handphone charging station located along the busy stretch between Maxis and TGV on the first floor and at the Parkson Customer Service Desk on the ground floor.

All one needs to do is put in enough coins in the slot machine, remove the battery from the phone and place it on the charger.

“We have several chargers including Sony Ericsson and Nokia so you just need to find the right one,” says Sunway Pyramid Shopping Mall manager of marketing communications Darren Chear.

Customers are guaranteed safety as the mall trains selected security guards to undergo police training. Upon completion, they are accorded auxiliary police status and assist in crime prevention in the mall.

There are over 200 auxiliary policemen and they are tasked with assisting crime prevention efforts around Bandar Sunway township.

A first-in-Malaysia feature, the Rainforest in 1 Utama Shopping Centre is home to over 100 species of flora and fauna, with koi ponds, cascading waterfall, giant freshwater fish aquarium and Rainbow suspension bridge.

Shoppers can unwind and take in the greenery while sipping a cup of coffee as there are a few eateries surrounding this breathtaking view. “The rainforest provides a unique al-fresco dining experience at its best,” says 1 Utama Shopping Centre senior public relations executive Joey Choong.

The shopping centre also offers other parking facilities like its revolutionary Platinum Parking, ONECARD Preferred Parking, Lakeside ONECARD Preferred Parking and ‘Park & Ride’ service to the public.

These special parking cards let you park at an allocated parking space. So if there’s a jam, just go over to the parking zone, flash the card at the counter and avoid the traffic jam.

As an added service, 1 Utama offers ONECARD Express, a shuttle bus service to and from the Kelana Jaya LRT Station. There is also a Taxi Coupon Counter for shoppers’ convenience.

1 Utama also offers a special service to assist the disabled by providing special parking spots for them at strategic locations. All of them are located near the entrance.

“Sometimes I drive there alone and have difficulty switching from my car to the chair. Now I just have to call the Concierge and they will arrange everything for me,” says Tony Teh.

He says that he can even call the shopping mall earlier to let them know he’s coming and they will be at the handicapped parking spot with the wheelchair ready.

Another great facility that is getting good response from the public is the designated “parking space for single women only” for ladies driving alone, especially at night, situated at the entrance of the mall.

Ainur Mokhtar takes advantage of these designated parking lots at The Curve Mutiara Damansara. “Most of my friends live around this area so I usually spend after-office hours having dinner, watching a movie or simply relaxing here,” she says.

“By the time we are done, it could be 11.30pm and the parking lot would be quite deserted. It is reassuring that I don’t have to walk far to my car and there are 24-hour CCTV cameras installed at major points of the parking lot,” she adds.

Another major draw at The Curve are the three bridges connecting the shopping mall to Ikea and Ikano Power Centre.

“This is the first in the country and we try our best to help accommodate our shoppers’ needs. The walkways are covered and shelter users from the rain,” says The Curve Centre manager Adele D. Flores

If you find yourself in need of professional gift wrapping, fret not as most of the shopping malls offer this service. “To ensure a pleasurable shopping experience, customer service counters are located on the main courts of the Megamall,” says Mid Valley City head of advertising and promotion department, Jess Loo.

“We offer free gift wrapping services, loan of baby joggers, wheelchairs, battery-operated scooters and storage facilities,” she adds.

At Ikano Power Centre in Mutiara Damansara, there is a “pet hotel” where shoppers can place their pets in the safe hands of the workers at Pet Safari while they go about their shopping.

The store operates like a day care centre and will groom, bathe and care for the pets for between RM10 and RM50, depending on the services and hours of pet minding. They also have a veterinary consultation and dog training service.

With so many conveniences and special services on offer, shopping at our malls is a breeze!

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This entry was posted on Monday, January 11th, 2010 at 3:00 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.