Shopping Experience is not enough! Excited to share our latest interview with Ekaterina Kirichenko, Business Partner, Concept and CX at INGKA Centres, covering Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, and the UK! Dive into Ekaterina’s insights on how customer behavior has evolved, the biggest challenges shopping centers face today, and the pivotal role of technology in creating exceptional customer experiences. Discover why shopping centers are becoming more than just places to shop – they’re transforming into community hubs where people can meet, eat, play, and grow together. Learn about INGKA Centres’ innovative projects and how they’re staying locally relevant, offering unique experiences that blend digital and physical spaces. Read the full interview to see how we’re redefining the shopping experience for the communities we serve!
Shopping Center Interview – “Much more than just shopping experience”
How has customer behavior changed during last few years?
Our lives and habits have changed in many ways. Today, we shop from wherever we are. Many of us work online. Lots of things is just a click away from getting whatever we want.
Speed of technologies development, volume of information approaching us daily – all that creates lots of stress and uncertainty. People more than ever are in need of like-minded communities, support and things and places they can trust in.
All that is impossible to imagine without real emotions, face to face interactions and moments created together.
What is the biggest challenge shopping center faces from conceptual perspective?
One of the biggest challenges, for sure is to stay relevant for consumers of today and be prepared to meet the needs of visitors of tomorrow. Recently we conducted Life in Communities research and found out that more and more people looking for mixed-use places, where they can not only shop but also relax and socialize. So, to stay relevant shopping malls have to offer much more than just shopping experience.
We love to challenge the idea of conventional shopping mall experience. Being a part of Ingka Centres we aim to stay locally relevant and create space where people can meet, eat, play and grow, a true meeting place for the local communities. For example, our newly open project of food court extension in RIO Valladolid, which brought even more local food concepts to our customers to enjoy their day out. And a unique in region LEGO Fun Factory concept of supervised play time which hosts our little visitors, allowing their parents to savor their meal or go for shopping with no stress and rush. Being a mom, I know how priceless these opportunities are.
In our meeting places we create city-scale events that have become an integral part of social life and cultural context of communities around us. To name a few: Christmas ice shows in MAR Shopping Matosinhos that attract thousands of Porto citizens every year, outdoor music festival in LUZ Shopping creating lively atmosphere and supporting local performers in Jerez, Spain or Distinguished gentlemen’s ride in MAR Shopping Algarve, Portugal combining good cause and passion for vintage motorcycles.
What role does technology play in CX experience? How does it help to develop long term concept vision?
Technology is crucial to become even more relevant and take fast and data proved decisions. It is super important to know who our customers are, what are their habits and patterns when they stay in the shopping center, what they say about us, why they choose other places. Technologies also help to foresee how market will evolve and to address its potential in time.
We also know, that all experiences are omnichannel: customers look for something online, then try it in shopping center, order somewhere else and we are to adapt to it! We develop opportunities to pre-book services in our Meeting places before the visit, create special offers, navigate our customers to create smooth and pleasant visit to our destinations.
What do you think customer is looking for? How can we offer them an optimal experience?
In the world with endless omnichannel choices our customers becoming more and more demanding while making daily choices. they always have questions in mind, like: does it worth for me to go to this place? What will find there what I need? Does this place designed for me? Does it worth my time?
Offer, services, facilities, hospitality, loyalty, activities based on local relevancy.
It is super important to be adaptable for customers behavior changes, diversify offer, bringing unique concepts apart from traditional retail.
What are the ingredients for the best customer experience in shopping center in the future?
Following our Life in Communities survey issued in 2024 with over 5,000 interviews across five countries the perfect ingredients are:
- Opportunities to enjoy together, as this is the main driver for out of home free time choice
- Multifunctional space approach, easy to adopt to meet the many needs of customers
- A place to relax and become “the third place”
- Green spaces, driven by sustainability and mental wellbeing mindset with community focused programing
- Blending the digital and physical
All this means for INGKA Centers to create unique locally relevant meeting places, which remain affordable and accessible, as well as inclusive and adaptive, for the communities and generations they serve.
