Shopping Mall Hacks: Best Time to Shop at a Shopping Mall
Important shopping mall hacks written by a retail security guards
: You may be wondering why on Earth would anyone require
’hacks’ before they visit the shopping centre? A few years ago,
I might have asked a similar question. After working as a
retail security guard at a major shopping centre in Melbourne,
Victoria, I was shocked by what I witnessed and surprised by
questions patrons often asked the
hired retail shopping centre security!
If you require a quick quote for security hire in Melbourne, then send us an email at info@securityconcepts.com.au or click below.
Then I thought hold-on; writing an insightful article like this may help a few shoppers/people stay out of harm’s way, save others money, help someone make a better judgement, and save them money while visiting the shopping centre. And another important goal is to improve the patron or customer shopping experience to shop better, smarter and safer!
I apologise beforehand because this is going to be a long discourse, filled with enlightening, entertaining, and common-sense advice and safety tips. So, you might want to read in parts to enjoy the whole article.
You have to understand my experience working in the retail shopping centre led me to write an inspiring book filled with heaps of hilarious true crime stories called SECURITY ADVENTURE SERVICE (check eBay, Amazon or Google for more about the book)
You can also check out these helpful articles/blogs
- Increase in shoplifting after the ban on plastic bags.
- What should you do, when a gunman starts shooting at a retail shopping centre?
- Things to look out for when contracting a security company.
Best Time to Shop: It depends on what exactly you hope to achieve, but if you are looking to shop in peace, I will suggest you go on Monday mornings, most people are at work or are dropping their kids off at school. You will find the car parks empty, and less patron traffic within the shopping centre. Also, Sunday mornings before 11:30am is a good time too.
Don’t try to steal – I know a majority of people that visit shopping centres are genuine shoppers and good people, but I have seen scenarios where the ‘genuine shopper’ thinks no one is watching and they steal an item. NOTICE – There are cameras on almost every angle at shopping centres and retail stores. You will be apprehended when you steal, and it’s not worth getting a criminal record for something you can afford but decided to steal.
Never-Ending Sales: There are retail stores you will notice, they are always having one phoney sale or the other, or you might see they have this perpetual ‘50% OFF’ for the gazillion years and that ‘50% OFF’ never changes. That goes to show that it is kind of ‘false advertising’ because when an item is always ‘50% OFF’ then something is wrong somewhere.
Price Hackers: These set of people have always got tons of time in their hands, you see them walk around the shopping centre, sometimes asking the retailers questions about items, but they never buy anything. I wonder if checking out prices is a therapy for them. But I thought to call them ‘price-hackers,’ take note – they are harmless and often nice people who enjoy browsing through prices!
Entry Policies: A good number of shopping centres have got similar Conditions of Entry in Australia, though there might be slight variations in their policies.
Such entry policies are posted at the door of each entry point. If possible, read it before you enter.
For example, some shopping centres have no pets allowed inside, no professional photography inside, no bicycles allowed inside, no smoking within some areas of the shopping centre. If you’re not sure of your local shopping centre’s entry policy, then ring them beforehand and ask.