Shopping centres have been under economic pressure for many years. The coronavirus pandemic has brought these structural shortcomings even more sharply into focus for those in charge. Changes in consumer behaviour have a direct impact on the decisions made by investors and centre managers, who are often seeking to revitalise their centres. Retail analytics can provide valuable support in implementing revitalisation measures and in the overall management of a shopping centre.
Visitor analysis in shopping centres
In online retail, visitor flows have long been analysed. Brick-and-mortar retailers still have some catching up to do in this area. This is because manual customer counts and customer surveys are not only time-consuming, but also inaccurate and limited in scope. With Retail Analytics, however, visitor footfall can be automatically tracked around the clock. Only when centre managers have access to visitor frequency data can they make optimal decisions regarding marketing measures and the tenant mix. With Retail Analytics, centre managers can not only determine how well a shopping centre is visited. It can also analyse which areas, levels and, where applicable, shops are particularly well or poorly frequented.
The revitalisation of a shopping centre should never be undertaken without retail analytics. This is the only way to assess the success of individual measures. During a revitalisation, floor plans are optimised, new product ranges and food and beverage offerings are integrated, multifunctionality is improved and, last but not least, investment is made in digitalisation. Using retail analytics, centre managers analyse visitor and customer flows within the shopping centre and generate key performance indicators for management. The data obtained makes it easier to manage and develop the shopping centre, as well as to identify untapped potential.
Analysing and optimising success factors for shopping centres
The success of a shopping centre depends on countless factors. Conditions can change over the years. Centre managers can influence some of these. Others, however, are external or static. Static conditions include, for example, the location or transport links. Modern architecture, a balanced mix of retail sectors, the optimal positioning of an anchor tenant and sufficient parking spaces are among the key factors for success. Individual factors are suitable for retail analytics.
Location
A shopping centre cannot change its location in the same way that individual shops can. It is therefore essential to explore all possible options for optimising its location. If a shopping centre is situated along a high street, footfall and visitor frequency can be measured. The capture rate can be derived from this ratio, and this serves as the starting point for evaluating optimisation measures.
Parking spaces
It goes without saying that a shopping centre must have sufficient parking spaces. Furthermore, these spaces must be easily accessible and of a suitable size. By using number plate recognition, centre managers can systematically identify the catchment area of their customers and tailor their marketing efforts to specific regions accordingly. Modern technology also makes it possible to determine the number of parked vehicles and the length of time they remain in the car park. After all, excellent parking facilities boost the desire to shop.
Floors
Shopping centres and department stores are constantly faced with the challenge of attracting customers to the upper floors. This is because visitors tend to navigate horizontally rather than vertically. A shopping centre must therefore have sufficient staircases, lifts and escalators, and ensure that access areas are open and unobstructed. Furthermore, the right mix of retailers must entice customers to the upper floors. Every floor must be of interest to visitors. Retail analytics provides the right tools to track and analyse visitor footfall on individual floors.
Route guidance
The layout of a shopping centre is largely determined by its architecture. In theory, there should be a main route to encourage impulse buying. A fragmentation of routes, blind spots or dead ends weaken the flow of visitors and reduce turnover. Architecturally, dead ends are often unavoidable, particularly on upper floors. In such cases, it makes sense to occupy these spaces with high-traffic attractions. With retail analytics, the main routes and low-traffic areas can be analysed in detail.
Industry mix and layout
The number and location of anchor tenants are key to a shopping centre’s success. These anchor tenants are often situated at either end of the shopping centre, as the shops located along the route are intended to benefit from the footfall generated by visitors. Using retail analytics, centre managers can track over a longer period how changes to the mix of retail sectors affect visitor flows.
Retail analytics for shopping malls
With Retail Analytics, centre managers not only gain insights into visitor numbers across the entire shopping centre. They can also determine footfall and conversion rates for individual stores. This is because the video-based 3D sensors monitor a defined area and accurately track visitor movements within it. The potential applications are extremely diverse. Depending on the contractual arrangement, it may even be possible to pass on at least the running costs of such Retail Analytics solutions to the tenants via the service charges. We would be happy to advise you on the best way to analyse your visitors.
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