Westfield Malls Looks To Converge Digital Shoppers With Physical Retail

By Hannah Ash, contributing writer

To Stay Relevant, Westfield Malls Turn To The Innovation Lab

The Westfield Group, which owns the global chain of Westfield Malls, has shopping locations all over the country and the world. In an age where digital drives sales, this investment group stands to lose or gain a great deal depending upon where the clicks fall as the brick vs. online wars wage on. According to shopping center and commercial property tycoon Rick Caruso, “within 10 to 15 years, the typical U.S. mall, unless completely reinvented, will be seen as a historical anachronism, a 60-year or so aberration that no longer meets the public's, the consumer’s or the retailer's needs.” Will, as one popular website devoted to the wasting away of the American shopping mall contends, shopping malls eventually become ruins or be repurposed to fit the needs of non-retail business?

Green Street Advisors, a real estate and REIT analytics firm, predicts that 15 percent of U.S. malls will fail or be converted into non-retail space in the next ten years. The Westfield Group has taken matters into its own hands. With the introduction of its Silicon Valley-based Westfield Labs, a center dedicated to, according to the website, ‘converging digital shoppers with physical retail’, the Westfield Group has created a secret weapon for its malls. Nicholas Cabrera, head of strategy and product for Westfield Labs, says that malls need to become more customer-centric. Cabrera commented that the shopping experience matters, “more and more, we see our physical locations — our shopping centers — as experience hubs more than just a place to buy a product. What’s different about the physical shopping experience is the experience you’re going to get while you’re here.”

Westfield Labs is working on rolling out innovation that consumers want - and creating shopping experiences that aim to elevate the errand to a destination. In November of 2013, Westfield Labs launched digital storefronts at its San Francisco center, in collaboration with eBay, Rebecca Minkoff, Toms, and Sony. More recently, Westfield Malls teamed up with same-day delivery service startup Deliv to leverage its stores full of inventory as a way to compete with Internet giants such as Amazon and Google who are also making moves into same-day fulfillment. Cabrera commented that participation from retailers’ is key, “anything we do, will need the retailer’s participation and partnership because at the end of the day we’re here to connect their product and their service with shoppers. But in many ways, the relationship with our retailers has evolved from a transactional and commercial exchange to a partnership in which we work together to create a better experience for our shoppers. It’s new to us, it’s new to retail, and it’s new to our retailers.”