Shopping malls have existed for a long time and are considered essential commercial hubs for towns and cities. They are places where citizens can find various businesses and shop around them conveniently. But with e-commerce becoming as popular as it has in recent years, shopping malls are beginning to drop in popularity. This has resulted in lower revenue, leading to several malls shutting down. There is a need for shopping malls to go back to the drawing board and make meaningful changes for increased customer engagement. 

One way they can do so is by using data and analytics. Analytics can provide you with essential insights that will allow you to see customer behavior and improve your shopping mall around it. This will mean greater utilization of resources and revenue. But how can you utilize analytics to benefit your shopping malls with increased customer engagement? 

Let’s dive in and find out.

Footfall Traffic

Football traffic represents the number of people entering and exiting the mall during a specific period. This critical data will give you an idea of which periods you get high amounts of engagement. Usually, you will find that fewer people visit the mall on weekdays, especially during noon. This means that you should develop a strategy that can enable you to increase this number for more customer engagement. 

One way you can do this is by incentivizing them to visit the mall during this time. This can be anything from discounts on certain shops to bonus points earned at the arcade. Similarly, you may find high amounts of traffic during holidays and will want to assess variables to ensure that most of these visitors are customers. These are principles that are used extensively in convention staffing.

Heatmaps

Heatmap analytics is related to footfall traffic, showing how this traffic is divided among the shopping mall’s layout. This is a vital indicator that will show you hotspots in your mall and which shops customers prefer to engage with. You will want the heatmap to be more spread out as hotspots can lead to bottlenecks and rushes in shops. This negatively impacts the shopping experience and leaves many spaces in your mall underutilized. 

You can help spread out this traffic by giving these low-traffic spaces to high-profile brands, which attracts more shoppers. Similarly, you can utilize prominent displays that attract shoppers and funnel in traffic to these zones. This will help improve the shopping experience and increase customer engagement.

Store Capture Data

Store capture data are analytics that show how much traffic is funneled into a particular store. It gives you insight into the type of stores customers like to see while telling you how well they are marketed. These stores’ performance is in your best interest, as their success will mean your success. Therefore, if you find a particular store that is not getting as much traffic, you will want to optimize its location. This includes improving your advertising, both in-person and digital. 

Additionally, you will want to display these stores appropriately on electronic displays at the right time. You can even place low-traffic stores between high-traffic ones to reduce bottlenecks and allow customers from more prominent brands to smaller shops. This way, you can make the most out of these brands. You will be able to develop even more strategies as these analytics will help you picture where you are receiving revenue from.

The bottom line

Shopping malls are essential commercial hubs for towns and cities. This is because they provide a convenient location for people to shop at various brands and businesses. However, shopping malls’ popularity has decreased due to the extensive success of e-commerce. This is why shopping malls need to reinvent themselves and develop better techniques and strategies. One way that they can do so is by utilizing data and analytics. This is because they provide insights that allow you to integrate effective strategies. We have looked at various ways to use multiple analytics for increased customer engagement for your shopping malls. Integrating this will help you obtain much more revenue and success.