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August 2017 — Retail Properties Quarterly — Page 23
Management
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I n freshman-level marketing
classes, new business students
learn about the unique sell-
ing point: The differentiating
factor between a product or
brand and its competitors. Good
marketers then use this set of
attributes to create a positioning
statement and hammer this mes-
sage home in all marketing strategy,
content and communication. Why
should customers pick you over
your competition? What makes you
different; what makes you better?
All businesses should identify
their unique selling points and
the shopping center industry is no
exception.
When it comes to identifying
what separates a center from its
competitive brick-and-mortar
counterparts, these differentiators
are fairly concrete to pinpoint. The
standard differentiators generally
are centered on tenant mix, loca-
tion, amenities, safety, activities,
and quality of the property and its
operations.
When it comes to honing in on
what definitively separates brick-
and-mortar shopping centers from
online retailers, the industry often
has focused on attributes that are
quickly expired by their fleeting
uniqueness.
In the early 2000s, the brick-and-
mortar industry standard to dif-
ferentiate from online competition
relied primarily on security and tac-
tility. The newness of online trans-
actions created a potential vulner-
ability and our industry ran with it,
thinking customers wouldn’t want
to jeopardize their financial security
and enter credit
card data online.
This was a short-
lived differentia-
tor – in 2000, only
22 percent of adult
Americans had
made a purchase
online, and today
that number is
over 80 percent,
according to a
2016 Pew Research
study. The major-
ity of consumers
generally are not
swayed by this fear
and understand
that a compromise of information
can happen online, in store and
even at the gas pump. It is no lon-
ger an advantage.
Another ubiquitous brick-and-
mortar differentiator of the not-
so-far-off past was tactility. If you
come to a mall you can see the
product, feel the product and try
it on. Although this technically
holds true today, this gap continues
to rapidly close as virtual reality
technology advances. This strategy
also didn’t take into account the
rapid acceleration of smartphone
technology and the ability to touch
something in store, beat the price
from your phone and have it arrive
on your doorstep the next day.
So what, then, do shopping cen-
ters have that set them apart?
As technology continues to evolve
exponentially, I believe there are
three differentiators that will not
dissipate anytime soon and should
be at the heart of any shopping cen-
ter marketing and operational plan.
• Emotion. As a species, humans
need connections. It is now possible
to never leave your home and have
all of life’s consumer essentials
brought to you at a relatively com-
petitive price, but where’s the joy in
that? The faster and less complicat-
ed online shopping gets, the greater
the continued need for emotional
connection.
Shopping centers have long pro-
vided not only goods, but also a
venue for emotional connections.
And while shopping center mar-
keting of the past focused on con-
venience, discounts or luxury, and
how much “stuff” was available at a
mall, the shopping center’s unique
proposition of the future is deeper.
For example, a mother taking her
daughter on an afternoon trip to
buy a prom dress; or taking your
retired father for a coffee just to
enjoy the afternoon together and
learn more about him; or sitting at
an outdoor café to work from your
laptop. A shopping center is more
than a place to buy goods. It is a
community landmark that is an
integral backdrop for the moments
that make life wonderful and a
neighborhood catalyst for creating
connections that truly matter.
• Experience. Massage therapists
have been coming to homes and
offices for years. They offer the
same quality massage available in
a spa, but their unique selling point
is convenience – we’ll come to you.
Yet, the spa industry has continued
to grow and thrive since massages
became deliverable. The two experi-
ences aren’t comparable, although
the end result of “a massage” may
be the same.
Shopping centers create a venue
for experiencing, rather than simply
transacting.
While merchants keen on surviv-
ing continue to work on develop-
ing their in-store experience, savvy
shopping center owners, regardless
of shopping center asset class, ten-
ant mix or size, are honing in on
the importance of the experience
Danaria Farris
McCoy, CRX,
CSM, CMD
Division operations
director, NewMark
Merrill Mountain
States, Longmont
NewMark Merrill Cos.
Gold’s Gym amplifies a standard indoor yoga class with an outdoor silent yoga experi-
ence at Village at the Peaks as a way to enhances customer experiences.