Public seating in One Utama shopping centre, Malaysia

Abstract

Over the past decade, there has been tremendous growth in shopping mall development in Malaysia, particularly in Kuala Lumpur. A large shopping centre attracts many customers because of its greater variety of shops and layout. The bigger the shopping complex, the more likely that customers will spend longer hours in wandering around the mall. Convenient shopping and adequate resting place were the major factors in influencing mall goers. Seating facilities at big shopping complexes also became an important factor for shop goers. The objective of this research was the identification of the importance of seating facilities in shopping malls, as well as to analyse the aesthetics, comfort and accessibility for convenience of seating facilities being preferred by shopping mall goers, and to investigate mall goers level of’ satisfaction on the different aspects of public seating in shopping malls, namely; location, number, design and comfort. The research highlights the significance of public seating facilities being provided by shopping malls in Malaysia. Public seating facilities are regarded as one of the main considerations for shopping malls in Malaysia. One Utama Shopping Centre, a superregional mall, became the subject of this research and made to answer questions on how significant public seating facilities are, including the practical design for the public seating and the user’s level of satisfaction on provided seating facilities through the questionnaire survey method. Approximately 102 participants participated in the survey. The results showed that majority of the participants agreed that public seating facilities in shopping malls are important (88.3%), while the bench type (65.7%) design and its arrangement along corridors (74.5%) are more preferred by shop goers. Shop goers in One Utama Shopping Centre agreed that comfort is the most important factor to be considered in public seating facilities.