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The retail landscape has been under intense pressure for several years, so much so that industry pundits have routinely forecasted a coming Retail Apocalypse. But in an industry of perpetual change, if you take a closer look, you will see that we aren’t headed towards a disaster; we are turning a corner to a brand-new and exciting world in 2021 and beyond.
As the industry's transformation continues, it is more important than ever for mall owners to lead in creating vibrant shopping environments for their tenants. But what is the recipe for success?
2020 has accelerated a trend at a massive scale when retail brands now compete for people’s time and attention more than just for their dollars. There are two objectives: One is building long-term loyalty, and the other is driving short-term sales. Success requires collecting and using data to know where people are shopping, not just on what.
Understanding that a customer spent two hours in a physical store before making a purchase online is crucial information for a true multichannel retail strategy. Or knowing that people visited three competitor stores before spending in your store will massively change your approach to marketing to them.
A driver of business success is proximity-based marketing and, when combined with customer loyalty, creates Geo-Loyalty, the new tool that retail destinations are wielding to engage with and win customers.
Leveraging Geo-Loyalty and making it the backbone of a mall-wide customer engagement strategy are powerful means by which the mall operator itself can become the catalyst of their retail tenants’ future success — and their own! In the end, it is the changing nature of consumer shopping behaviors that retailers must recognize as the force driving the importance of proximity marketing.
Today, knowing where people spend their precious time is just as vital as knowing how they spend — and knowing both of these gives you complete insight into your shoppers. COVID-19 has meant that people shop in physical stores less frequently, they shop more locally and they plan their shopping more carefully, so knowing upfront when someone is planning to go shopping — or better still, knowing in real-time that they are on a shopping trip — is key to influencing buyer behavior.
Retail has never stood still, and the giants of yesterday have continually been threatened by new technology and changes to customer behavior. The key to success is to foresee the tides of change and to adapt quickly to the new environment. For malls, that means developing new business models; a new, customer-centric approach; and a relationship with brands that embraces showrooming and true multichannel, or cross-channel, shoppers. This means putting equal weight on the importance of knowing about transactions and visits to your tenants’ stores. Geo-loyalty is the latest innovation that is transforming the industry.
To learn more about proximity marketing, visit coniq.com.