The Retail vs Online Shopping Experience

With the arrival of Amazon in Australia in 2017, shopping centres and retailers prepared to do battle with the retail giant.  Shopping can now be actioned anywhere, anytime now, and the millennials love it! 

With statistics showing a steady decline in foot traffic from shopping centres (a decline of 5% alone in 2017) the retail shopping community is working together to offer an enhanced experience to entice shoppers.  Anyone can sit at home with their laptop, a glass of wine and shop away.  You ask any woman and mostly the descriptive word to this is ‘bliss’.  But Amazon and the likes of Alibaba cannot be held fully responsible for the change in consumer sentiment.  Cautious consumer spending, the price of retail rent and negative consumer sentiment have all had a part to play in the emerging culture that is online shopping.  However not all generations can concur with online shopping with such vigour as the millennials.  It is this that is leading shopping centres to design offerings that prove attractive to all demographics. 

However, there is something that the online world cannot replicate yet, and that is the experience.  Being able to touch the cotton fabric, smell the coffee beans, see the colour palette available and actually try items on for size.   

Many, many women still love the shopping centre experience.  Starting the day with coffee with friends, meandering around the high street shops which are conveniently incorporated into malls, together with department stores all offering exquisite levels of customer service.  The sights, the smells and the shiny things that shopping centres offer just keep getting shinier.  Take concierge parking for example - another pain point absolutely removed.   When your weary legs need a rest, you can enjoy a bite of lunch in often various levels of eateries, from upmarket restaurants and bars, to cafes and food courts.  Round off the day by collecting some groceries for the fam, and it is a fantastic (and cool!) day out.  To continue to offer this experience, those big shopping centres just keep getting bigger.  Stockland Shopping Centre Townsville just added 400 new car parks, in 2017 Westfield Chermside Shopping Centre underwent a large scale redevelopment launching 95 new stores and a phenomenal dining precinct, and the redevelopment of Chadstone shopping centre in Victoria included a new dine-in restaurant precinct, an up-market movie theatre and a Lego Discovery Centre.

The differentiating factor between online shopping and the physical centres is the experience.  For retail business and shopping centre management a laser focus is required to set the centres apart.  Build the experience and the offering coupled with competitive pricing, and those seeking to engage in the new and shiny experiences will come.  Building loyalty through the experience a shopper has is key to success in this ever changing retail landscape. 

Supporting the smooth and streamlined shopping experience, Trolley Stopper works with you to provide the shiny experience for your clientele.  Allow that amazing day described above to conclude with a full trolley unpacked at the car with ease, with the risk of a runaway trolley eliminated.  This is the part of the shopping experience that differs to the online experience, so centres need to be delivering an innovation solution to the departure point of a centre.  Work together with us and you can rectify runaway trolleys with a straightforward and simple installation process that takes place overnight.   

The future of shopping will continue to evolve but to continue to lead, the consumer experience needs to be front of mind.