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CASE STUDY

The Westfield mall in Acadia is just a great economic development project. It has a great understanding of its customers. It is also in the entertainment industry more than other leasing shops. It has a large food court area and great products. The project is good for the surrounding community since it gives them access to various products. The premium stores include coach, Janie & Jack, Kiel’s, Michael Kors and Nordstrom.

Westfield has grown from just a shopping center to a great destination for its customers. People enjoy places with fast internet connections such as the Westfield mall. The levels of digitalization and innovation are just amazing. The future of businesses lies in technological innovations (Haque et al, 2014), and Westfield has made tremendous improvements in the information technology sector.

The mall also collects the views of customers in order to know what to change. It seeks to know the customer’s needs, wants and specifications. In order to stay up to date with technology, Westfield partnered with Cisco. This partnership was to improve the IT security of the mall. Cisco wireless also provides Wi-Fi services at the Westfield shopping mall.

The advertisements of Westfield are also relevant due to its understanding of the customers. The mall provides smart parking for its customers. This helps a large number of customers who come in and out of the mall to have a reliable parking system for their vehicles. The mall adopted technologies like wayfinding to enhance the provision of parking services to the customers (Haque et al, 2014).

Retail innovation has been possible due to the digitalization of most of the services in the Westfield mall. The smart center model has been replicated and used as a blueprint (Haque et al, 2014). The mall also expects returns on investments in the multiphase deployment.

The partnership with Cisco has helped to give customers of Westfield mall a lasting experience. This is because they are able to enjoy a good internet connection, and services such as self-serving ordering are also available. Customers also get checkouts through the digitalization (Liu et al, 2013).

In order to find retail stores, customers also use the app to get directions. A visitor may want to go to one of the stores. He/she will only need to check the app and find a specific retailer. Visitors can also look for dining and entertainment areas. Event-driven personalized messaging is also available for everyone who visits the mall (Liu et al, 2013).

The coach store has quality handbags, leather goods, footwear, and jewelry. There has been the continued development of new products and categories which has led to the establishment of distinctive identities of the brand. The store has tried to maintain high standards of workmanship and their workforce are also committed to work (Toth, 2014). This store has delivered a good retail experience for a long period of time.

The challenges facing Westfield include its aged infrastructure. As the mall struggles to become top destinations for its visitors, its infrastructure also gets old. Visitors need to enter places which really look good (Toth, 2014). The infrastructure, therefore, needs renovation in order to attract visitors. The infrastructure which has been there for long periods of time might lead to points of failure.

The mall also has to deliver an exceptional experience for the retailers. The consumers and brands also need to enjoy great experiences in the mall. Retail stores must, therefore, be in great conditions to ensure that people rent them. The mall might lack retailers to rent the stores if they are not in a good state. Services such as water and air conditioning are provided in the retail rooms to make them good for retailers.

Since consumers need digital shopping experiences, the mall’s partnership with Cisco will help to provide a solution to this problem. Cisco is able to address all technologically related problems of the Westfield mall (Tyndall, 2010). The traffic to the shopping mall is also a challenge, but more parking slots can be provided to help decongest the cars in the mall.

The government has played a big role in the development of the Westfield mall. For instance, it has developed the roads connecting to the Westfield mall (Tyndall, 2010). There was a lot of traffic on the roads connecting the Westfield mall, but this has reduced greatly due to the development of the roads by the government.

The surrounding community enjoys the services offered at Westfield such as the clothing, food court areas and women handbags (Tyndall, 2010). They also enjoy the strong internet connection at Westfield. The retail stores are also available for the surrounding community members who would like to venture into business.

The economic impacts on the community include the development of the infrastructure in the whole area. The government developed roads in the area due to the existing Westfield mall. The community members can, therefore, transport products in the area with ease (Tyndall, 2010). Fast movement of goods enhances business practices in an area.

Since the mall is an attraction for many visitors, community members who have businesses also get more customers. This is because those who visit the Westfield mall also get an opportunity to interact with the community members. Gas stations in the area receive more customers who need to fuel and service their cars.

The Westfield mall has helped the community in the area where it operates. There are foundations which help needy students to acquire free education. The mall also provides opportunities for retailers and information security companies.

REFERENCES

Haque et al (2014). Exploring Customers' Shopping Experience through Shopping Center Branding in Malaysia. Journal of Management Research (09725814), 9(3).

https://www.westfield.com/santaanita/stores/premium-retailers

Liu et al (2013). Is What's Bad for the Goose (Tenant), Bad for the Gander (Landlord)? A Retail Real Estate Perspective. Journal of Real Estate Research, 35(3), 1-17.

Toth (2014). The growth of retail REITs: an exploration of current practices and implications (Doctoral dissertation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology).

Tyndall (2010). ‘It's a public, I reckon’: Publicness and a Suburban Shopping Mall in Sydney's southwest. Geographical Research, 48(2), 123-136.