Shopping centres across the country continue to evolve with initiatives being launched to enhance consumer engagement and experience, which is becoming increasingly more important for property owners.
A variety of in-mall activations are attracting more people to those centres, driving tenant revenue, and elevating the asset value of that property.
“I believe that people intrinsically need to connect with others, feel part of a community, and have a sense of belonging. That need is at the essence of what it means to be human,” said Jennifer Dunn, Senior Marketing Director within JLL’s Property & Asset Management team.
“In real estate, this translates to creating spaces where people can interact, where they can discover new ideas, where they can be entertained, and maybe even wow’ed. This principle continues to hold strong even with major disruptors, such as ecommerce and the pandemic. Time and time again, we’ve seen that bricks and mortar can thrive by offering differentiated experiences that bring people together.”
She said stores have the greatest role in consumer engagement: anyone who gets a buzz from a great day of shopping understands that it is the branded experience, the merchandise and the customer service that drives both engagement and sales.
“I believe the shopping centres, as an aggregator of all these brands, also have an important role in creating a sense of belonging with shoppers. In the shopping centres that we manage, we do our best to deploy an “always-on” approach to experiential, ranging from major events that take up entire centre courts, to seasonal events, like Lunar New Year celebrations, to ongoing programming like immersive yoga classes or live music,” added Dunn.
The core of the shopping centre remains the same as ever: modern day marketplaces. But the best performing centres are changing their merchandising mix to integrate modern concepts that imbed food and entertainment.
“When the shopping centre develops events strategically and in partnership with our retailers, they can have a direct impact on the business. When we run an event or experiential strategy that is tailored to the local market, we see boosts in traffic to the property and a sales lift at our participating tenants,” said Dunn.
Overall, JLL Canada’s Property and Asset management group oversees just over 53 million square feet comprising about 275 assets. The retail group of more than 375 best-in-class experts manage 18.5 million square feet with more than 20 properties and 3,500 tenants spread out across the country in all major markets – from grocery-anchored sites to community centres to urban shopping centres to more regional shopping locations.
“Throughout my tenure in the shopping centre industry, I’ve seen many iterations of what marketers call ‘Instagrammable Moments’. These have ranged from brightly coloured hoarding walls to immersive booths, where people can take a stylized photo,” said Dunn.
“These activations are popular, but, again, what really stands out is authentic experiences: this is what shoppers want to take photos of and share with their social networks. To guarantee this authenticity with the shopper base, we ensure each property has the autonomy to build out events that speak best to their targeted audience, rather than scaling generic campaigns across portfolios.”
“In early November, I attended an event at Centre Eaton de Montréal, celebrating Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) and it was fantastic! It was such a smart and strategic take on Halloween, targeted to attract the desired young professional surrounding the centre. The live face painting, mariachi bands and 12-foot dancing skeletons did just that – generating huge crowds, great energy and a ton of social media posts, stories, and reels.”
There’s nothing like the holiday season to capture the imagination of customers coming to the malls. But it’s time to shake up the traditional tropes. Accordingly, Metropolis at Metrotown (in Burnaby, B.C.) will be testing out a new format for Santa visits this year, featuring four diverse Santas. In the spirit of relevancy and authenticity, there will be a traditional Father Christmas, a younger Kris Kringle, a Global Santa (Dun Che Lao) and a Tropical Santa on vacation.
JLL Canada’s managed real estate portfolio includes several types of assets, and the learnings from retail properties can be applied to many of them, especially office.
“With many employers implementing a return to office mandate, no matter the cadence, we are seeing an increase in landlords and employers looking for creative avenues to draw people back. That’s where our Property Management and Experience Management (XM) platform are changing the scene. Our team specializes in creating vibrant experiences and a sense of community, ultimately increasing the value of an asset through improved tenant retention, increased occupancy, and higher rent premiums,” said Meghan Lareau, Director, Strategy & Customer Experience at JLL Canada.
“Working in a third-party model, especially in a company with vast expertise in property management such as JLL, brings several advantages in customer experience for both the client and end-consumer. Our team taps into JLL’s retail research in Canada and abroad, enabling us to stay on trend and have insights into what is new and next for consumer experience. Additionally, our clients can take advantage of our proprietary tech solutions, such as our Hq0 tenant app, which enhance the customer’s experience when interacting digitally with our managed properties.
Whether in an office setting or at shopping centres, customer experience is an integral part of a successful strategy to retain customers and ensure an elevated experience at the properties managed. Building communities, a sense of belonging, along with experiences and customized amenities are factors that will no longer be optional for the spaces of tomorrow.
