The coronavirus pandemic and the related growing share of e-commerce in retail sales have accelerated the dynamics of changing customer behavior and forced shopping center owners to reflect on the need to introduce new services and innovations. Recent CBRE surveys show that more than half of malls also serve as e-shop outlets, and 41% of customers learned to shop for an online range during the covidu-19 pandemic. As a result, up to 30% of retailers plan to change the concept of their outlets to attract people back to stores and motivate them to visit regularly. The main helper in this direction will be effective marketing and orientation to build a customer experience.
“It seems unbelievable that we can see the same approach to marketing in many shopping centers as we saw ten or fifteen years ago. However, in this style, they rely only on the inertia of customer behavior and do not reflect current market changes. We are convinced that such an attitude can lead to a decrease in the commercial performance of the center and thus its market value in a relatively short time,” says Tomáš Míček, head of the retail sector and shopping center management at CBRE.
The online world is constantly expanding and there are also customers of shopping centers who need to communicate in a different way than usual. A key factor is the unique customer experience that distinguishes retail from e-commerce and gives the customer a reason to visit the mall and shop in a brick-and-mortar store instead of an e-shop. It is therefore necessary to pay more attention to it and use the possibilities that modern times offer: whether it is mobile applications, IoT elements or multimedia media. And always in such a way that the chosen tools are effective for a specific shopping center and interesting for customers. In terms of their satisfaction, CBRE has been applying its own “Smart CX” tool to the centers for several years, which evaluates the center from the customer’s point of view and identifies weaknesses that should be given more attention in the future.
“We see marketing as one of the ways that it can really affect the key performance indicators (KPIs) of shopping centers, increase their market value, or help build long-term relationships with customers, especially in the post-time period. That is why we have also decided to contact the market with a new, purely marketing service that can help them both comprehensively and within partial services. The best practice that defines an effective and sustainable strategy for the future direction of the center is, first and foremost, an in-depth audit of all key areas. Based on the results, we identify strengths and weaknesses and prepare an action plan specifying changes: from customer satisfaction audit through marketing strategy to the process of rebranding or repositioning,” says Tomáš Míček, adding: “Examples of successful implementation of this model are our baton, such as the recent transformation of OC Rokycanská in Pilsen or the development of its own customer application built on building long-term customer relationships for OC Novo Plaza.”
The Novo Plaza shopping center, owned by Bluehouse Capital, offers more than 80 shops and services. Its reconstruction and modernization took place until the end of this summer, while the exterior of the facade and outdoor areas in front of the center, the installation of a new pylon and the flags of the tenants were carried out in the exterior. Furthermore, the interior was revitalized, the paving and lighting were changed. A new food court was also opened. “From the point of view of the marketing strategy, the newly developed mobile application working with intelligent receipt scanning technology, the solution of which was created in cooperation with an external development company, can be assessed as crucial. In addition to the loyalty function, it also provides complete information about the shopping center, individual shops and services, planned events and other news. This application allows you to not only understand the shopping behavior of customers, but also build long-term relationships with customers on the basis of personalized offers and rewards. Novo Plaza is the first center in the country to introduce such a system, but it is easily transferable to others. We can offer a tailor-made application to all our cooperating centers, “comments Pavel Urban, Deputy Head of Shopping Center Management and Head of Retail Marketing at CBRE. The principle of the application is simple: the customer takes a photo of the receipts from the stores on a smartphone and receives points according to the amount of the purchase. He can then turn them into rewards of his choice, such as vouchers for other purchases or specific products.
The modernization of OC Rokycanská (formerly OC Plzeň), owned by the Trigea fund and managed by CBRE, was launched this summer. “At first glance, significant modifications demonstrate the change in format from the Tesco hypermarket with a shopping arcade to a modern shopping center with a leasable area of almost 30,000 sqm and an offer of almost 60 shops and services, which has expanded even more in connection with modernization. At the beginning of October, the reconstruction of the exterior was completed, which lasted three months. The construction work included the revitalization of the exterior, new cladding and the installation of modern elements: a navigation system, digital panels with news from the center and a new logo that reflects this year’s rebranding, “says Pavel Urban. At present, the building aspires to be called an entertainment or social center, where various consumer competitions and events for individuals and families with children take place. In the future, the interiors will be improved, which will be divided into several stages so as not to disrupt the operation of the center and the movement of visitors.
