Willowbrook Shopping Centre in Langley, B.C. has launched a unique omni-channel shopping experience for its customers in the Fraser Valley’s premium shopping destination.
Storeyline is an online platform that allows consumers access to a number of products, cross-shopping more than 40 stores and a single-cart checkout process.
Andy Clydesdale, Executive Vice President, Retail, QuadReal Property Group which owns and operates the mall, said the company is in the business of building, managing and acquiring best in class real estate.
We aim to create spaces where the community wants to be . . . where they want to eat, shop and socialize with friends. Storeyline is the natural extension to our physical bricks and mortar offering,” said Clydesdale.
“We know that 90 per cent of our customers are researching their purchases online before they shop and more and more of them are shopping online in which case, we want to meet them where they are and exceed their expectations.”
“It may be a little counter intuitive for some, said Chrystal Burns, Senior Vice President, Retail, QuadReal Property Group. “We’re in the bricks and mortar business. Why would we be adding a digital platform? But we believe it doesn’t detract, it improves the offering of our retailers. Even more so during the pandemic we realized that our retailers who have a strong online offering have weathered the storm and are stronger for it.”
Willowbrook has about 650,000 square feet with about 140 stores. Burns said the Centre has had a number of cosmetic upgrades over the years and has recently added a T&T Supermarket, a Winners and the first Nordstrom Rack in BC. It is under construction as well with The Courtyard, which is a food and beverage precinct featuring outdoor screens, fire pits and landscaped areas set to become a social hub for the Langley community.
“We’ve been executing on significant investment and improvements to Willowbrook Shopping Centre over the last few years and we’re very excited about it,” said Burns.
The online platform is powered by Adeptmind, a leading technology company specializing in artificial intelligence and ecommerce.
Burns said Storeyline was piloted since December of last year. It went live on March 1.
“Adeptmind is proud to partner with QuadReal in launching the Storeyline platform at Willowbrook Shopping Centre,” said Jesse Michael, Vice President Sales & Customer Success, Adeptmind. “This is a first-to-market execution in Canada and will provide shoppers with another level of utility in discovering what’s available to them at their local shopping centre, either to plan a visit or make a purchase for in-centre pickup or same-day delivery.”
Burns said customers can either have their shopping orders delivered to their homes, picked up at the Willowbrook customer service concierge desk or curbside.
“Anything that you’re buying online is actually fulfilled from store. So it’s the best of both worlds. The online purchase is supporting our Willowbrook Shopping Centre retailers’. It supports employment in the community and the local economy,” she added. “And still provides our customers with that ease of access, that ease of convenience.
“When an order comes in on our Storeyline, it is fulfilled by a Willowbrook customer service representative. We pack the order into one beautiful Willowbrook reusable shopping bag and then we have a number of stalls at one of our entries where if you’re doing a curbside and you’d rather not come into the shopping centre it can be taken to you. If you want to pop in you can pick it up at the customer service desk or we use local delivery services to have it delivered to your home.
“We’re not doing it for volume online. We’re doing it for optionality and for service for our customers and to support our retailers.”
Well done! For too many years, physical stores and malls in Canada have viewed the internet as competition. The internet is just a tool. It’s available to any merchant to use to their advantage, big or small, online or offline. This kind of innovation is the future of retail.