COVID-19 so far has turned out to be one of the biggest setbacks for the retail and shopping industries around the globe. With lockdowns imposed in every country for more than 50 days, the industry had almost neared a state of total collapse without any idea of what the future had in store. The uncertainty of the lockdown and pandemic resulted in brands and shopping mall developers trying every possible way out to get back to normalcy as soon as economic activity began. The most common approach to tackle the aftermath of the pandemic, which was adopted by nearly every player in the field, was technology and digitization.
In an attempt to understand the preparations, objectives, and parameters of shopping center businesses in order to thrive in the current pandemic situation and also looking forward to new opportunities and approaches to sailing through the phase, the Phygital Retail Convention (PRC) hosted a session titled, ‘How Shopping Centres Can Catalyse Digital Transformation’. Experts from the shopping center industry discussed how technology can be a boon for malls, if used correctly, adding richness to real-life experiences, while providing convenience to consumers.
The highlight of the discussion was how malls can ‘leverage mobile apps to give more power to the digitally-driven customers. Creating more personalized shopping mall experiences will ensure that the consumers will be visiting the mall again and again.
The session was moderated by Pushpa Bector, Executive Director, DLF Retail. The panelists included:
• Mukesh Kumar, CEO, Infiniti Malls
• Najeeb Kunil, CEO, PPZ
• Pramod Dwivedi, President Real Estate Division, Ambuja Neotia Group
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