IT service firm Placewise aims to digitize the shopping center experience

Written by Katishi Maake
Contributor, Retail Brew
Originally featured on The Morning Brew

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Yes, mall traffic has largely returned to pre-pandemic levels. But major shopping centers might need to do more in a new e-comm era.

Placewise, an IT service firm, is piloting a marketplace platform that curates inventory at shopping centers. A mall in Norway is giving it a test run, while a shopping center in Wisconsin will join in the fall.

• The tech integrates retailers’ stock (well, the ones that opt in) into a one-stop shop, so customers can browse across stores.
• Home delivery or pickup? It’s the shopper’s choice. Same goes for returns, which are handled through the mall or the retailer.

“It's really important, more than ever, for the shopping center to have a relationship with the shoppers,” John Dee, president of Placewise Americas, told Retail Brew. “That really becomes an asset that they can deploy to the benefit of themselves and other retailers.”

The big picture: Roughly a quarter of US malls could shutter in the next three to five years, according to Coresight Research data. To survive post-pandemic, malls face a long to-do list—including embracing tech and creating a multipurpose environment, per a July 2020 Deloitte report.—KM

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