With 320 million customer visits and over 30 million unique visitors a year, Capital Shopping Centers is the UK's leading specialist shopping center owner, developer and manager. This scale and specialism gives us a unique insight into today's consumer and what they are looking for from their shopping experience.
CSC has the physical scale to establish a strong national brand to integrate the online and shopping center retail experience. Today CSC is announcing a £25 million investment to create a nationwide consumer-facing shopping center brand, intu, and a transformed digital proposition.
Key initiatives:
- Creation of a single brand, intu, to be incorporated into the names of the company and our directly-managed centers.
- Providing a compelling national proposition for retailers and other commercial partners.
- Supported by a "World Class Service" approach from their 1,800 staff.
- Involving refreshing changes to their centers' physical environments.
- Integration of the physical and digital environments to provide a seamless multi-channel experience for their visitors through installation of a new fiber optic network for every center.
- Provision of high quality free WiFi throughout the malls.
- The launch of intu.co.uk, a transactional, fashion-focused, mobile-enabled website.
- Overall investment of £25 million, comprising £7 million on brand creation and roll out, £8 million on digital infrastructure and £10 million on the acquisition and start-up phase of intu.co.uk.
Benefits:
- For visitors: improved customer experience, including additional digital services.
- For retailers: higher spend both in-store and online from enhanced footfall, dwell time and customer service. Effectiveness of center-by-center marketing spend much improved as the unified brand reduces duplication. National awareness and marketing opportunities increased.
- For their employees: a more dynamic, creative and engaging culture, focused on customer experience and supporting innovation and personal development.
- For investors: driving income through enhanced propositions to consumers and retailers, consumer spending on new value-added services and new revenue sources such as national commercial partnerships, digital commissions and advertising.
2013 timeline:
- On 18 February 2013 CSC will change its name to intu properties plc.
- In March Trafford Centre will launch free WiFi, followed by Lakeside in April, Eldon Square, Newcastle, in May and all centers by February 2014.
- From March to June their 1,800 staff will attend training in World Class Service.
- In April 2013 intu.co.uk, the new eCommerce site, will be launched.
- From May 2013, the intu brand and visual identity will be rolled out across their centers in the form of physical signage, enhanced customer service desk facilities and national consumer activity commencing with a major launch event.
David Fischel, Chief Executive, commented:
"With over half the UK population visiting our shopping centers each year, we have the scale to seize the opportunities provided by the changes in the retail marketplace. We are investing £25 million in digital infrastructure, an eCommerce website and a new brand. We very much look forward to implementing the initiatives announced today, which mark an exciting next phase in the evolution of our market-leading UK shopping center business, to the benefit of customers, retailers, staff and investors. "
Source: CSC
