Today’s biggest malls function more like cities than shopping malls. They combine food, entertainment, retail, and services under one roof, cover millions of square feet, and draw tens of millions of people. Digital signage has emerged as a crucial component of the smart infrastructure needed to manage these areas and maintain client engagement.
People may find their route with the use of interactive directories. LED video boards transform public places into venues for storytelling and marketing. Customers are informed and traffic is kept moving with real-time information. These technologies also provide operators access to data that may enhance anything from layout to leasing and open up new advertising income streams.
In order to address operational issues, improve the visitor experience, and maintain their competitiveness in a retail landscape that is always evolving, this article examines 10 of the biggest malls in the world and how they use digital signage.
Top 10 Rankings Shopping Malls
1. The Dubai Mall (Dubai, UAE)
Over 80 million people visit the Dubai Mall each year, making it one of the most popular shopping destinations in the world. With more than 1,200 businesses and a total area of almost 12 million square feet, it has everything from upscale boutiques to the famed Dubai Aquarium and an Olympic-sized ice rink.
In order to handle its intricate structure, the mall used a Smart Directory system consisting of interactive touchscreen kiosks that assist patrons in locating shops, restaurants, and services. The system then offers on-screen navigation to facilitate speedy access to these locations.
Additionally, the displays include advertising panels that, when not in use, display promos. In addition to producing income, these screens provide coverage for events and marketing promotions. In order to better understand traffic patterns, schedule events in busy areas, and even help with lease choices, the mall monitors use statistics from the directories.
2. The Avenues Mall (Kuwait City, Kuwait)
With more than 13 million square feet, the Avenues Mall is the greatest shopping destination in Kuwait and among the largest in the Middle East. Twelve districts make up its layout, each with unique architecture and ambiance that ranges from traditional marketplaces to contemporary luxury. Although the layout offers a distinctive experience, it also makes it harder for users to navigate.
The Avenues is well-known for experimenting with immersive digital signage that resembles what you would see in a theme park or art museum. “Electra,” one of the mall’s more recent additions, is a prime example. It is a massive 600 m², 360-degree curved LED veil with an interactive LED floor that gives you the impression that you have entered a live, breathing work of art.
The Avenues Mall will benefit from increased engagement, social media buzz, and customer retention as a result of this exhibit, which produces the type of unforgettable experiences that people want to share. Additionally, they provide chances for premium advertising, allowing firms to debut goods or hold seasonal events in a manner that is far more thrilling, grandiose, and dazzling than a typical advertisement.
The digital signage in the mall is managed centrally. At any time, they may rapidly update anything on the property.
3. IOI City Mall (Putrajaya, Malaysia)
With a floor space of over 8.8 million square feet, IOI City Mall is the biggest retail center in Malaysia and among the largest worldwide. An Olympic-sized ice skating rink, an indoor adventure park, a 13-screen movie theater, and an exhibition area on the roof called IOI City Farm are just a few of the family-friendly, recreational, and retail activities it offers.
The mall placed 55-inch and 65-inch standing kiosks at key entrances and intersections to facilitate traffic flow across its expansive layout. These touchscreens serve as all-in-one directories that provide users with clear on-screen instructions and the ability to search for businesses or services. Without the delays of printed materials, the kiosks’ connection to a cloud-based system enables real-time changes to shop listings, maps, and promotional information.
Additionally, major mall retailers are improving their online presence. For instance, Decathlon set up a transparent LED display with a pixel pitch of 3.9 to 7.8 mm at their shop at the IOI City Mall. The screen is 1 m by 3 m. The store’s design incorporates the exhibit in a subtle way to enhance the area without overpowering it.
4. SM Mall of Asia (Pasay City, Philippines)
One of the biggest malls in the Philippines and a well-known shopping destination in Southeast Asia is SM Mall of Asia. It is spread over many buildings on Manila Bay and covers an area of almost 6.3 million square feet. The mall combines shopping, entertainment, and leisure on a big scale with more than 3,500 businesses, a huge department store, a supermarket, movie theaters, and even a tram system.
The MOA 360 LED, a 15-meter-tall circular display column in the center of the mall, is one of its most eye-catching digital elements. It displays high-definition images that can be seen from all directions inside the atrium thanks to its 170 square meter LED screen. Product ads, dynamic graphics, and features for special occasions are all shown on the screen.
Beyond the enormous LED pillar, MOA includes a large number of LED billboards and video walls for advertising. The “Mall of Asia Arena Mesh,” which wraps around the arena’s front, is really the biggest LED billboard in the Philippines, and it is located next door to the Mall of Asia Arena. Overhead LED banners in the mall’s store zones loop announcements of events and shop discounts.
5. Starfield COEX Mall (Seoul, South Korea)
With a total floor area of over 1.65 million square feet, Seoul’s Starfield COEX Mall is the biggest subterranean retail center in the world. It is situated under the COEX Convention and Exhibition Center in the city’s Gangnam neighborhood and has more than 250 shops, a movie theater, an aquarium, and the famous Starfield Library, a public reading area with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves.
The massive SMTown COEX Square LED billboard on the outside of the COEX Artium building is the most talked-about piece of digital signage at COEX Mall. It is located above the mall rather than within. The biggest digital billboard in South Korea is this curving LED screen, which is around 80 meters wide by 20 meters high. It became well-known around the world in 2020 because to a public art installation named “The Wave,” which featured an anamorphic 3D image of a massive wave smashing within a virtual glass tank. Videos of this lifelike 3D wave illusion went viral, demonstrating how immersive the screen can be.
One actual instance of how digital out-of-home media can transform a shopping center into a worldwide attraction is the COEX wave. The screen plays K-pop videos, corporate advertisements, and digital art for the people that congregate outdoors for around eighteen hours every day.
It is a significant marketing victory for Starfield COEX Mall. In addition to bringing in a significant amount of ad income from businesses looking to use one of Asia’s most prominent digital billboards, it attracts foot traffic—people visit COEX only to see the screen content before continuing on to shop or eat.
6. Mall of America (Bloomington, USA)
With more than 520 shops and more than 5.6 million square feet of area, Mall of America is the biggest shopping center in the US. It is well-known for fusing shopping with popular entertainment options, including as an aquarium, mini-golf, many cinemas, and the indoor amusement park Nickelodeon Universe. It is situated in Minnesota. It is a destination unto itself, including an exposition center and connected hotels.
Beginning in 2016, the mall installed more than 100 digital directories to aid patrons in navigating the four-story structure. These touchscreen kiosks, which have a personalized navigation interface, are positioned all throughout the mall. Visitors may get turn-by-turn walking instructions and search by shop name, category, or even individual brands. Users may send the instructions to their phones and follow them while they’re on the road thanks to the system’s capability for text messaging.
To guarantee accessibility for all users, each kiosk has an ADA-compliant mode and supports nine languages. Every year, the network records millions of interactions, providing mall management with comprehensive information on traffic trends and popular queries. Event planning and retail locations are modified using this info.
7. West Edmonton Mall (Edmonton, Canada)
With more than 5.3 million square feet of total retail space and over 3.8 million square feet of leasable area, West Edmonton Mall is the biggest mall in North America. It’s more than simply a shopping center; it has two hotels, more than 800 stores and services, a water park, an NHL-sized rink, mini golf, and an indoor amusement park. Over 30 million people visit it annually.
In order to assist manage its vast area, West Edmonton Mall operates a vast network of digital signs. Mall employees may manage material on hundreds of displays across the building using a single system.
Digital menu boards, for instance, are linked to the same technology in the food courts. With a common content management, employees can instantly change menu items, pricing, and promotions on displays at each location.
Large screens throughout the mall’s hallways and common areas display anything from navigation instructions to advertisements for attractions and retail promos. The same software makes it simple to change the meeting schedules and navigation information shown on screens throughout the convention center and hotels on-site.
West Edmonton Mall has a great deal of versatility because to its cohesive layout. They may provide a more dynamic, captivating experience overall, provide guests with interactive maps and event lists to keep them informed, and instantly refresh every display.