The team at real estate software specialist Yardi think so. According to Yardi’s senior director for Asia Pacific, Bernie Devine, six “magic formulas” can help bricks-and-mortar landlords harness technology, respond to trends and create immersive, unique experiences for customers.
“It took a pandemic to show the world what life would be like to shop 100 percent online — and we didn’t like it,” Devine says.
While customers appreciate the convenience and personalised service of the online experience, the digital landscape “lacks the warmth and magic of the mall”. Devine points to research that finds customers spend 20 minutes browsing in-store, in comparison to just four minutes online. “Customers want the best of both worlds, and shopping malls can give it to them.”
How retail leaders harness digital technology to disrupt the shopping status quo is a serious business. But Devine notes that retail is also “playful, adventurous, experimental and experiential”, which encouraged Yardi to develop a white paper “that has a bit of fun too”.
Six Success Formulas to Remake Retail is the latest in Yardi’s long-standing thought leadership series. The paper takes a light-hearted look at the trends — from artificial intelligence to “phygital” retail — and suggests ways that retailers can apply these trends “or at least think differently about the future possibilities for their assets”.
Bernie Devine, Senior Regional Director, Asia Pacific, Yardi
The report also features a powerful collection of case studies to illustrate where the trendlines are pointing. One of those case studies is of Nike’s new Ginza store, which opened in downtown Tokyo in December 2023. The store “bristles with technology”, from shoe diagnostic services to digital screens that display information on group running opportunities.
Another case study is of beauty retailer Sephora, which has trained 25,000 in-store sales consultants with leading-edge technology to enrich customer visits. One tool uses AI to offer Sephora shoppers selections based on a proprietary dataset of over 10,000 skin tones, for instance.
“Arthur C Clarke once said that advanced technology is ‘indistinguishable from magic’ — and our magic formulas encourage retail leaders to think about how technology can help them wave the wand of transformation over their assets,” Devine adds.
“With the help of rapidly advancing technology, landlords across Asia Pacific are optimising and automating processes. Yardi software produces 6 million work orders a year, for instance, and we can harness AI to ask questions, analyse data and find better answers for our customers.
“This means landlords can spend less time on mundane routine tasks, and more time exploring ideas and innovating, connecting with customers, delivering outstanding experiences and finding their own magic formula to remake retail.”
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