The leading developer, owner and manager of prime regional shopping centres in the UK, intu, is launching a new app which promises to “bring the digital and physical shopping experience together” after its launch at the end of the month.
intu will preview the app, which it claims will help retailers at its shopping centres to boost sales throughout the day, at the British Council of Shopping Centres’ BCSC 2015 conference later this week.
Digital and commercial director at intu, Trevor Pereira, believes that showcasing the app will help to demonstrate the advantages the initiative offers to both retailers and consumers.
He says; “The customer experience is driving the digital agenda in retail, and a one size fits all approach no longer works. Personalised and adaptable approaches to customer experience are needed – and that’s exactly what this app delivers.
“By using analytics to better understand shopper behaviour, we’ll be able to continually evolve the offers and services we provide our customers: we believe that this approach has the potential to significantly impact multichannel retailing.”
The app, which will be launched to coincide with intu’s highly popular nationwide “Student Nights” shopping event, will combine centre information, in-centre way finding and opt-in personalised location based offers for users, thereby ensuring that consumers will never miss out on the chance to grab a great deal in its centres.
Retailers will have the ability to “ping” consumers through the app to advertise promotional activity and special offers, encouraging shoppers to shake up their spending habits and change routes when visiting an intu development.
Of course, this is not the first time that intu has led the wave of change in the shopping centre sector, as the app comes from the in-house digital innovation team responsible for affiliate content site intu.co.uk. Since its launch, almost 300 retailers have signed up to the scheme – equating to a year on year site growth of 40 per cent – and it has been visited by more than 22 million users in its first year.
According to global performance marketing network Affiliate Window, intu.co.uk is now in the top ten for affiliate content sites in the UK. Managing director of intu Digital, Karen Harris, hopes that the app will enjoy a similar level of success.
She says; “We’re determined to be at the forefront of innovation in the retail property sector, and intu.co.uk is a great example, delivering ecommerce alongside inspirational, unbiased content. The site is growing rapidly and plays an important role in the UK affiliate market worth £6 billion.
“For our retailers, this means that we can help their business to flourish by supporting their omni-channel strategy and reach a far wider audience than through a bricks and mortar only approach – not only are we ensuring our centres are the most digitally connected in the industry, we’re also joining the dots between the physical and digital shopping experience.”
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