MallMate, a new mobile app that streamlines the shopping mall experience, has been officially launched in the UAE.

The free app, currently available for download on iPhone and Android devices, covers almost 50 malls in the emirates.

It enables shoppers to discover their favorite brands, locate stores within malls on an interactive map and route planner and share their findings and preferences with their friends, all on one digital platform.

The app, which has been boostrapped by a founding team of entrepreneurs and hackers, was created to integrate information from malls around the world on to one single platform so consumers have a one-stop mobile solution for their shopping needs, with an interface that makes the shopping mall experience enjoyable and pain-free.

The need for a compelling shopping mall app has grown over the years as smartphones have become ubiquitous and the retail industry has continued to grow.

"The UAE, and in particular Dubai, is renowned as a global shopping destination as the retail landscape in the city continues to expand at an accelerating pace," said Jaideep Dhanoa, MallMate CEO.

"Furthermore, the UAE boasts one of the highest smartphone penetrations in the world, yet we find that consumers continue to use offline methods to discover, locate and shop at stores, especially inside malls, which is where the true value of MallMate lies,” stated Dhanoa, who has worked in a number of innovative roles in Silicon Valley, the Middle East and Asia with McKinsey & Company, Artiman Ventures, The Walt Disney Company and the Indian Premier League.

According to him, digital has changed the game for shoppers and retailers, yet, the shopping mall is nonexistent on consumer smartphones and is therefore losing mindshare for consumer attention.
MallMate helps to address this challenge, extending the shopping mall experience beyond the physical time shoppers spend at the mall to the MallMate ever-present digital devices, while also improving the in-mall customer experience.

MallMate provides a wide range of services allowing any mall-goer or shopper to take advantage of the app - whether users are looking for special deals or directions to a specific outlet.

The app allows users to search and find any store across any mall in their city. Shoppers can choose which mall to visit based on the brands they love and find out where to go in the mall with a simple indoor floor plan at their fingertips.

Its most engaging tool is its ‘Love List’, which allow users to save their favorite brands so that the app can share recommendations of stores and deals when visiting a mall. Users can also use the app to share recent purchases with friends or save items to their wish list, said Dhanoa.

Lastly, MallMate’s personalized deals are especially handy during sale periods as shoppers can see the full range of deals across the city’s malls.

"There are currently no compelling multi-mall operator apps in the market. Individual malls may sometimes have their own apps, but these are often not very user-friendly and don’t do justice to the shopping mall experience," observed Dhanoa.

"Our focus is to offer the best shopping mall experience for shoppers around the world. With this aim in mind, in addition to our consumer app we are also working on free tools to help retailers and malls engage with their shoppers," he added.

MallMate covers nearly 50 malls in the UAE, plus many more around the world. It also currently operates in six cities: Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Singapore, Hong Kong, Bengaluru and New Delhi and is aggressively expanding across the world.-TradeArabia News Service