A CASE STUDY WITH STARWOOD RETAIL PARTNERS
The Situation
Starwood Retail Partners is re-inventing the way consumers experience retail, evolving brick and mortar retail centers for a new generation of shoppers. When it was time for updated directories, Starwood Retail saw an opportunity to expand the idea of “connected retail” and deliver a best-in-class customer experience. They needed an affordable digital wayfinding experience that enabled them to quickly adapt to changes at their centers.
The Solution
Starwood Retail partnered with Placewise, the leading provider of digital shopper engagement services to the shopping center industry, and TouchSource, the industry leader in interactive digital kiosks and displays. TouchSource developed digital kiosks and signage at the Starwood retail properties. TouchSource’s software platform and kiosks were then integrated into the Placewise back-end infrastructure that powers
Starwood Retail’s web, mobile, social, email and SMS programs into a seamless consumer experience online and offline.
The combined solution was much more than a new directory, it was an elegant and simple to use system that presented the same digital content across web, mobile, social and in-mall digital displays. TouchSource enables a 360° experience with integrated turn-by-turn directions, downloadable to a mobile phone, giving shoppers access to retail, dining and entertainment information all while guiding them directly to their destination.
Now, with a single entry into the Placewise platform, Starwood Retail can update all their directories with one simple action.
“By combining the Placewise online experience and TouchSource in-building
experience, our teams have saved countless hours, and our marketing is now
consistent across all platforms”Brian Price, Starwood Retail Partners.
The Results
Starwood Retail gained much more than a new directory, other benefits include:
- Ability to leverage the same high-value retail content featured on all of Starwood Retail’s digital properties including web, mobile, social and digital in-mall directories
- Simple, automated retail content integration from website to directory through the Placewise API
- Dynamic single-entry content updating for both website and directory through the Placewise CMS, RetailHub
- Store promotional offers, sales and discounts downloadable from the directory to shoppers’ phones through near field communication (NFC), QR codes, and SMS
- Customized advertising based on directory user, with support to source revenue through third-party advertising
- 3D animated mapping and wayfinding
- Data about store searches, deal’s accessed, and touch recorded on the directory personalized at 3 levels: member name, retailer and center. Additionally, the subject lines were randomly generated from 3 possible formats: Ultimately, the value of the integration was much more than a superior experience for tenants
and shoppers. The engagements would also generate additional data around shopper preferences, intent and behaviors. This enhanced Starwood Retail’s ability to deliver personalized messages to shoppers. Smart marketing and automated one-to-one messages powered by RetailHub, also created operational efficiencies while strengthening brand loyalty between the shopper, shopping center and tenant.