Retail First head of marketing, Rebecca Gascoigne, told Inside Retail PREMIUM that, following communication around how retailers could directly benefit from new and emerging technology enhancing Retail First’s own traditional marketing activity, retailers were very supportive of the loyalty app program. “We launched with 70 per cent participation in one centre and 100 per cent participation in the other centre, which was significantly higher than our normal participation rate of approximately 30 per cent for traditional in centre activations,” Gascoigne said. “The selling point for retailers was to drive foot traffic to their store, particularly from new customers that may have not been exposed to their product and/or services before.” Gascoigne said some of the larger national retailers in the Capalaba Park and Redbank Plaza centres had reservations about what affect the Retail First loyalty programs would have on their own, existing loyalty initiatives. “Some were reluctant to participate due to their own loyalty programs, however they are now all, including the likes of Coles, on board. It is now considered a complementary addition to their own rewards program. Customers now have a choice of benefiting from a spend at multiple retailers, rather than just at individual retail outlets, in order to earn points and redeem rewards.” The apps – Park Points (Capalaba Park) and Redbank Rewards (Redbank Plaza) – are available as free downloads from both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Gascoigne said the new rewards program app was a logical progression from the traditional cardboard or plastic loyalty card. “The old card based loyalty systems are fast becoming ineffective, so we are using technology to attract and importantly, retain customers,” Gascoigne said. “Australia has one of the highest smartphone-to-population percentages in the world, so it made sense to embrace this technology, particularly when most shoppers are rarely without their phone, unlike store loyalty cards.” Gascogine said the creation of a centre-wide loyalty programs was aimed at increasing footfall by reminding customers of the virtues of bricks and mortar retail. “The overall goal of the app was to promote the advantages of shopping in bricks and mortar stores by enhancing customer engagement, retention and interaction with retailers by rewarding everyday shopping behaviour,” she said. “We were also aware that customers tended to ‘cross-shop’ between our centres and surrounding centres, and we wanted to create a longer-term incentive to have loyalty to our shopping centres.” The app employs beacon activation (when customers enter the two centres) and QR codes (scanned when purchasing from a retailer) to track customers’ loyalty points. Developing the app Retail First’s loyalty app was developed over 12 months and presented a number of obstacles, primarily around analytics and the reality of consumer shopping behaviour. Retail First tasked its developer with creating a bespoke offering that was easy to use for both retailers and customers, while also being compatible with 100+ store payment systems. With consumers increasingly using social media as an information-gathering tool, coupled with Australia’s well-documented high rate of smartphone penetration, an app-based, centre-wide loyalty program could be seen as an obvious move. Yet using a mobile app as the platform for a loyalty rewards program is still a relatively new concept in Australian retail. Retail First conducted an online survey of the shopping habits of shoppers at its Capalaba Park centre, the results of which called for a mobile app-based loyalty program. “The results indicated an opportunity to utilise new and emerging technology to enhance traditional marketing campaigns, like a loyalty program,” said Gascogine. “The results were relevant across a number of centres within the Retail First portfolio, which emphasised the need to roll out a smartphone loyalty app at various centres.” Retail First will next roll out the loyalty program at its Brookside, Sunnybank Plaza and Australia Fair centres within the next few months. Subject to the availability of resources, Gascogine said the program will further be implemented at a number of Retail First’s 19 shopping centres if it complements strategic planning moving forward.