Return to the Mall
Retailers create a marketing message with new technology.
Shopping center operators are turning to technology to get more customers through their doors.
Advancements in Internet technology and other mediums have been allowing retail marketers to relay their messages. While this technology is also keeping customers away from stores through online “clicks-and-mortar” vehicles, some shopping center operators think the innovations will help bring consumers back to the malls.
One center, the Sunrise MarketPlace in the Sacramento, Calif., suburb of Citrus Heights, is turning part of the responsibility of marketing over to its tenants. The center, officially a business improvement district, has teamed with technology providers Chico, Calif.–based Travidia Inc. and Sacramento-based FatBottomLine LLC to build a “micronet,” a collection of tenant Web sites built into www.sunrisemarketplace.com. These “microsites” are accessible through the mall’s online directory, which lists the stores alphabetically and offers links through which visitors can learn about sales, store histories and other facts. Tenants build the sites using Travidia’s Adscripter, a text and photo editing tool.
Mall officials said this is the first time a major shopping center has launched a total merchant-controlled online storefront.
The concept goes beyond a directory, according to Ken Knecht, vice president of marketing for Travidia. It does not require users to navigate different URLs and it saves time, he said.
“The stores can do anything with it. They can upload video or put their latest radio ad on it,” Knecht said. “Sunrise has a lot of national retailers, so they can choose to regionalize their microsites to adapt to the local market.”
For a venue such as Sunrise, which has more than 500 tenants, the quick links are important to keep the attention of visitors.
“This technology allows each one of our businesses the power to reach out to consumers in a truly innovative and directed manner,” said Karen Hamilton, vice president of the Macy’s Sunrise store and chairperson of the 15-member board of directors that governs the business improvement district.
“It allows them to intuitively market themselves 24/7 to drive consumers to their stores,” added Kathilynn Carpenter, executive director of Sunrise MarketPlace.
Knecht said tenants are achieving significant cost savings because they do not have to develop independent Web sites.
The content varies. Lane Bryant posts its weekly specials. Macy’s advertises its credit card customer specials. Other stores are still in the process of developing their microsites.
Travidia’s Adscripter tool has a keyword search engine that allows shoppers to find actual merchandise items rather than just a list of store names, said Knecht, noting that the feedback has been positive so far. It should take several months for all the stores to join the micronet, which the center launched in the spring, he added.
Wired for retail
Other centers are also experimenting with Web and other technology applications to spark traffic.
At the Citadel Outlets in Commerce, Calif., owner Craig Realty Group of Newport Beach, Calif., has stayed on the cutting edge of technology to keep traffic up. The company installed a live Web cam at www.citadeloutlets.com to give potential visitors a view of the castle-like structure, which is undergoing an expansion. The camera reveals the progress of construction as well as the state of traffic on Interstate 5.
Citadel officials have also installed eight 30-foot-tall LED screens, which feature the latest sales and information from the outlet’s stores, which include Guess?, BCBG, Ecko, Billabong and Calvin Klein.
The screens are from Dallas-based BillBoard Video Inc., which also provides many of the screens in New York’s Times Square. Using such technology at a shopping center is rare because many city and state ordinances ban advertising vehicles of this size. The only other shopping centers using similar signs are in Las Vegas, said Brian Bachman, director of communications for Craig Realty.
“We’re using technology to tell a story,” said Liz Griggs, the Citadel’s general manager. “We have these great big walls, and nobody knows what’s behind them. We’re getting good feedback, especially from customers who have never been here before.”
Since their launch in May as part of a $52 million expansion project for the 273,000-square-foot center, the screens have promoted Father’s Day sales, construction updates, seasonal merchandise and events. Now, the Citadel is embarking on a sales program to open up ads to tenants.
“It will be like TV news. You get the message out immediately,” Bachman said. “If it’s raining, a store can post an ad for umbrellas and galoshes on the spot. They’re more eye-catching than your average billboard.”
