While there are often answers in the school holidays in the shape of kids entertainment, craft workshops and competitions at the malls, at other times of the year, it is not so easy keeping small children happy.

But there are plenty of ways shopping centres can help. By keeping kids amused through a variety of permanent or semi-permanent machines, kiosks and services, centres will not only increase dwell time for families, but they can also benefit from non-rental income.

Clearhill offers one way in the shape of Candy Cart sweet dispensers. The self-service kiosks take up less space than a bench seat but can turn under-utilised space into profitable space.

The units require no power, staffing or maintenance, yet can provide shopping centres with a good rent or commission from the products sold.

Like traditional sweet dispensers, customers simply put in a coin, twist the lever and retrieve their sweets. And with a huge variety of sweets to choose from, it's a clean and easy method of providing a pick 'n' mix counter in your centre.

The units come in a choice of two colours, but the sweets themselves provide a great focal point in the mall and are a great magnet for attracting the attention of youngsters. The units are also wheelchair-friendly so it is easy for anyone to serve themselves.

Currently, 60 shopping centres across the UK and Ireland have the Candy Cart in their malls and this figure is growing.

Photo-Me International is also continuing to increase its presence in shopping centres every month and has become the unavoidable number one company for vending solutions.

Video games, simulators, gaming and novelty machines, children's rides and bouly machines that dispense toys are all available through Photo-Me and provide another way for shopping centre management teams to amuse their young shoppers while generating additional income.

Glenn Macfarlane, chief executive of UK and Ireland operations, says: "We have noticed in recent years a trend where shopping centres are not only trying to generate more income from mall space but offer more and more services to their customers. Photo-Me has capitalised on its vending experience to create an extensive range of equipment especially suited to shopping mall environments.

"There is a strong will to develop some interesting aspects of commercialisation, such as enhancement of services, refreshment zones and one-stop-shops. It is now about achieving everything within one location."

Another area is the gift voucher, where gift cards are taking over the traditional paper vouchers and are providing another added benefit to shopping centres. GiftFlex launched at Dundrum last year and to date, it has sold 42,000 cards - 20,000 in the three weeks leading up to Christmas alone. In total, that translates into a taking of E3.5m - a 50 per cent increase on the paper scheme.

The cards make great presents for friends and relatives, or as corporate gifts. This is also a fine method for providing children with pocket money as they can only be spent at retailers within the shopping centre, giving parents peace of mind as to where their kids spend their money.

The card works like any debit card. The only exception is you load the money on the card before you start using it and when the money runs out you throw the card away. Non-rental income generation is possible through selling the card for a small fee.

"It's safe, secure and children-friendly," explains John Ennis of GiftFlex. "Children can use it and buy items in the way that mummy and daddy do.

"The benefit to the card-holder is that if they lose it, we can replace it; and you can use the card as often as you like until the money runs out.

"We had massive queues in Dundrum in December with a mix of people buying presents at Christmas and lots of children coming along with collections for their teacher, as well as a lot of corporate sales."

GiftFlex is now launching its service within the UK and on the continent as well. "We wanted to make sure we were robust and secure, and we proved that at Christmas," adds Ennis. "We wanted to make sure we do it right."

Contacts

Clearhill: http://www.clearhill.co.uk

Photo-Me Int: http://www.photo-me.co.uk

GiftFlex: http://www.giftflex.com

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