How to plan a roaming team or mascot in a shopping centre

A roaming team takes your samples or offers to shoppers instead of waiting at a stand. A mascot does the same job with more theatre. Centres treat both as their own booking with their own rules, because a team on the move can crowd walkways and annoy tenants in a way a fixed site can't.

Here's what centres set for roaming activations and how to plan a brief they'll approve. The examples come from guides and rate cards that centre owners and operators publish on their own websites, checked on 4 October 2026. Some are several years old, and each centre sets its own terms, so confirm the details with your centre before you book.

#1 - Book roaming as its own activity

A casual mall site doesn't give you the right to walk the centre. Victoria Point Shopping Centre's casual leasing guide (2020) doesn't permit pamphlets "away from the casual lease site", and says customers may only be approached "when customers approach the casual leasing display directly". The display guidelines published by Cannon Hill Kmart Plaza say roaming isn't allowed from kiosk sites "unless a separate roaming licence has been entered in to".

The major owners sell roaming as a product. At Westfield centres, the store standards Scentre Group published in 2015 say sampling and handing out offers "by roaming around the centre is available if booked in advance with our Brandspace Division", and that there's a charge. Today Scentre's BrandSpace team lists roaming in Westfield centres alongside kiosks and vacant stores. Stockland's S Connect offers "Brand roaming", QIC's Brand iQ lists "roaming promotions" and Mirvac lists "Sampling / Roaming".

Find the right contact for your centre in our shopping centre managers directory.

#2 - Plan around time blocks, team size and zones

Roaming is often sold by the session, with a cap on staff and limits on where they can go. Lendlease's 2025 pop-up rate card prices roaming in "4 HOURS" blocks at some of its centres. Cannon Hill Kmart Plaza's roaming guidelines set out the kind of limits to expect:

• roaming rates are based on "a minimum of 4 hours per day", with a loading in seasonal periods
• roaming ambassadors are "limited to two staff"
• staff may only roam "the common mall areas" and must "keep clear of any competitor retailers"
• staff are not to enter retail shops or roam in car parks
• sample sizes are restricted and "must not compete with any retailer in the Centre".

Plan where the team won't go, too. The Casual Mall Licensing Code (2021), agreed between the Shopping Centre Council of Australia and retailer associations, defines the "common area" that casual mall licences use so that it excludes escalators, travelators, lifts, stairways, toilets, seating areas and food courts. The code is written for fixed sites, but it's a sensible guide: treat those as no-go zones unless the centre tells you otherwise, and ask which tenants the team must stay away from.

#3 - Brief the team on centre conduct rules

Centres publish conduct rules for casual leasing staff, and expect roaming teams to follow them. Cannon Hill Kmart Plaza says its conduct guidelines "apply to Roaming and Experiential Activities". Common rules include:

• Wait for eye contact. Cannon Hill Kmart Plaza allows one approach, "only after the customer has first initiated communication through eye contact". Mount Sheridan Plaza (2025) says to "Refrain from further interaction after a 'no thank you'".
• Don't chase. Cannon Hill Kmart Plaza's guidelines say not to touch, grab or follow shoppers, or "wave samples for brochures in the air". Harbour Town Gold Coast (2021) says customers "are not to be followed".
• Leave window shoppers alone. Cannon Hill Kmart Plaza bars approaching people "who are window shopping or who are entering into other retail shops".
• No noise makers. Harbour Town doesn't permit "noise makers and jumping around".

The guidelines published by Cannon Hill Kmart Plaza also set a three-strike policy: at the third strike, the client is advised to vacate the centre. Put the rules in the staff brief, not just the booking file.

#4 - Know what the team carries and how they check in

Centres want to know who's on the floor. Cannon Hill Kmart Plaza says roaming staff must wear "a branded uniform" and "report to Centre Management upon arrival and departure". Harbour Town asks staff to wear identification "e.g. ID or name badge" where possible. Mount Sheridan Plaza says casual leasing staff may need to check in before they set up and sign a code of conduct form.

Have the team leader carry the booking confirmation and the centre contact's number, so they can show both if a security officer asks.

#5 - Choose kit that moves with the team

Roaming kit has to be carried or wheeled all day, through crowds, without being left behind:

• Vendor trays are worn, not carried, so staff can hand out samples on the move. Our vendor trays measure 520 mm x 400 mm, with two padded shoulder straps, and the tray surface is suitable for direct food contact.
• Wheeled bins carry more stock. Our wheeled sampling bins are 910 mm high, come insulated or uninsulated, and run on small castors made for smooth indoor floors, which suits shopping centres.
• Custom carts are built to your brief, around the product. See our sampling carts and trolleys.

Ask where spare stock can go. Cannon Hill Kmart Plaza says excess sample stock may be stored "with prior arrangement", and charges may apply. Plan for spills as well: Mount Sheridan Plaza asks you to clean spills immediately or call the cleaners, and stay "until the spill is cleared".

#6 - Mascots and costumed characters

A mascot needs its own approval. Cannon Hill Kmart Plaza says "Characters in costumes are permitted however must be approved". Send the centre a photo of the costume and the planned route.

Costumes are hot to work in. Safe Work Australia's guide to managing the risks of working in heat says "Clothing that impairs the evaporation of sweat increases the risk of heat-related illness". It suggests these controls:

• make sure workers aren't working alone, or monitor them so they can easily call for help
• set work-rest schedules
• provide air-conditioned, shaded or cool break areas as close as possible to the work site.

In practice, that means a minder with every mascot, a break plan the centre has seen, and a cool space to change near the route. If the mascot hands out balloons, check the rules first. Scentre's 2015 standards say helium balloons must not be used inside Westfield centres, and allow air-filled balloons on a balloon cup and dark-coloured stick.

#7 - Food and alcohol samples

Food samples bring food safety rules. Under Food Standards Australia New Zealand's Standard 3.2.2A, food service, catering and retail businesses that handle unpackaged, potentially hazardous, ready-to-eat food need at least a food safety supervisor and trained food handlers. Check with the local council how notification applies. In NSW, the NSW Food Authority lists food operations that "provide food free to the community" as exempt from notifying, and food stall holders at temporary events as needing to notify.

Alcohol tastings need the right liquor licence. In NSW, for example, a pop-up licence allows tastings at off-site pop-up promotions "if you are already a NSW licensed producer", and applications are due "no later than 28 days before the event start date". Check the rules in each state before you book.

#8 - Your day-of checklist

• booking confirmation, session times and the centre contact's number
• staff in branded uniform with ID, signed in on arrival
• the agreed zones and the tenants to keep clear of
• trays or bins stocked, spare stock stored where agreed
• a minder and a break plan for every mascot
• a spill kit and a bag for rubbish
• staff briefed on approach rules
• signed out on departure.

We've worked with Australia's major sampling agencies for twenty years. We supply vendor trays and wheeled sampling bins, and build custom carts to brief. See our sampling and demonstrating work, or call us on 1300 240 250 to kit out your next roaming brief.