Yeah that is weird. DS walked pretty early and we got rid of the pram quick smart. I hated taking that thing around and DS was never a big fan. If the shopping centre was really busy then I probably wouldn't have let him walk around by himself in case he got stood on or run over by a trolley. Only you in your situation and knowing your daughter can say if you think it is risky for her to walk or not. There are shops here I wouldn't let a 12 month old walk around in, and some that I would be fine with. Just depends on the danger I guess.
DD1 was walking at about 10.5 months and DD2 at 9 months so mine were both really early as well as being really independent misses. Having the two of them though I found it much less stressful for me to have the both in the pram in shopping centres. Neither of them wanted to be in the pram though so I would tend to give them time out of the pram in return for them being good for me in the pram while I shopped for whatever I needed.
Both the girls are very tiny so while I never got any negative comments (lots of comments about cuteness/tinyness), I always had to be really watchful that people didn't bowl them over cos a lot of the time they just weren't seen.
DS1 walked short distances all the time from 10 or 11 months because I couldn't carry him due to my hips (I was pregnant with DS2) and if it was only a short distance I didn't see the point in taking the pram. In shopping centres he was always in the pram or the trolley but only because I couldn't physically run after him if he ran off so it seemed safest. Rule of thumb though, if a stranger deems it important enough to tell you that you are parenting wrong, you can safely assume they were unsure of what they were doing themselves when they parented so are probably not the sort of people you want to take advice from.
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