Newly enhanced directories create seamless digital experience for shoppers
NEW YORK, Oct. 31, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — Simon, a global leader in retail real estate, is rolling out new, interactive digital directories to nine centers in time for the busy Holiday season with a broader roll out planned for next year.
New interactive digital directories are currently in use at King of Prussia. (PRNewsFoto/Simon). Click for full size.
These enhanced, innovative digital directories incorporate the latest in digital wayfinding and interactive capabilities and are designed to provide shoppers with convenient access to what’s going on at their favorite mall through an engaging new user interface.
“Simon is a leader in this space with an unmatched network of over 175 screens deployed across the country,” said Mikael Thygesen, Simon’s Chief Marketing Officer. “It’s an important customer amenity that our shoppers interact with quite regularly. We felt it was time to develop the next generation of this technology and elevate the consumer experience even further. Judging from the strong positive feedback received from shoppers already, I think we’ve achieved our goal.”
These next generation units use 65″, LCD, full HD touchscreens and are strategically located in high-traffic areas, coming to life when a shopper walks within a few feet of the screen. The digital interactive maps highlight the location of shops and services and display the fastest route for shoppers to take. Shoppers also have the option to send those directions to their mobile device through a variety of digital communication channels (beacons, NFC, SMS, etc.). A universal search option allows for a quick search of stores, dining options and services. Information on the latest offers and deals available from retailers and restaurants equips shoppers with all the information they need to make their shopping trip productive and enjoyable. In addition, the digital directories utilize the latest location-based marketing technology to allow brands to connect directly with their customers with real-time, relevant information.
The new units were unveiled as part of King of Prussia’s grand reopening festivities in August and are also installed at Clarksburg Premium Outlets (Clarksburg, MD); Copley Place (Boston, MA); Fashion Centre at Pentagon City (Arlington, VA); Florida Mall (Orlando, FL); Forum Shops at Caesars Palace (Las Vegas, NV); The Galleria (Houston, TX); The Westchester (White Plains, NY); Stanford Shopping Center (Palo Alto, CA) and Del Amo Fashion Center (Torrance, CA). Installations to expand the network will continue on a rolling basis.
Next Gen Wayfinding Kiosk
These next generation units were created in partnership with Gable, an award-winning provider of digital displays that helps businesses connect and engage people through effective visual communications, and Acquire Digital, whose digital signage, wayfinding and interactive development tools are being used by Blue Chip brand names around the world.
About Simon Simon is a global leader in retail real estate ownership, management and development and a S&P100 company (Simon Property Group, NYSE: SPG). Our industry-leading retail properties and investments across North America, Europe and Asia provide shopping experiences for millions of consumers every day and generate billions in annual retail sales. For more information, visit simon.com.
Acquire Digital® are very excited in the release of its new interactive Wayfinder kiosk solution, rolling out across America in Simon℠Shopping malls. Navigating large locations such as shopping malls can be difficult and time consuming, with traditional printed static maps often adding to the confusion. Digital Directories reduce the time taken by shoppers to find their destination by displaying the most efficiently and useful route for shoppers to take.
The Acquire Wayfinder has been developed over a number of years to produce a simple and fun interactive experience that can be installed in Shopping Malls, Airports, Exhibition spaces, City Centres and anywhere visitors need to find where to go. Over the years, it has evolved from a simple routing / mapping system to something that makes the shopping experience enjoyable and intelligent so that users can be guided not only to their destination, but also receive supplementary information related to their destination or along a route.
For Simon, Acquire Digital have used their highly configurable UI/UX system and customized their wayfinder to match the branding and requirements of Simon, whilst integrating with the Simon data to avoid duplicate entry of store details through the normal Wayfinder CMS. This also allows for more than just Wayfinding, but advertising opportunities and information about offers and events to engage with the shoppers.
The new units were unveiled as part of King of Prussia’s grand reopening festivities in August and are also installed at Clarksburg Premium Outlets (Clarksburg, MD); Copley Place (Boston, MA); Fashion Centre at Pentagon City (Arlington, VA); Florida Mall (Orlando, FL); Forum Shops at Caesars Palace (Las Vegas, NV); The Galleria (Houston, TX); The Westchester (White Plains, NY); Stanford Shopping Center (Palo Alto, CA) and Del Amo Fashion Center (Torrance, CA). Installations to expand the network will continue on a rolling basis.
The Acquire Wayfinder consists of a fully interactive, live 3D map, with multi-touch pinch & zoom, and a number of different methods to choose the destination. Even the map itself is interactive as it allows users to touch any store and find relevant information about their destination, and an animation and turn-by-turn directions of the best route(s) to their destination.
Shoppers have the option to send their chosen route to their mobile device by scanning a QR code, activating a built-in NFC tag or sending an SMS message to take their directions with them on the go.
Acquire Digital® have incorporated Beacon technology for onward routing, cameras for user recognition and audience measurement, and many other modern technologies which means the technology is always similar or better than the experiences users expect nowadays.
This project has been a huge accomplishment for the Acquire team, in collaboration with Baltimore based partners Gable.
About Acquire
Acquire Digital® has been developing digital signage and interactive solutions since 1997. With a range of products including Digital Signage, Wayfinding and interactive development tools, plus their ability to customize their offerings, Acquire has been working with many Blue Chip brands over the years in countries across the globe. From their headquarters in Leicester (UK) and offices in Boston (USA) and Macau (Asia) they provide a complete software solution from design to install and operation, whilst partnering with best of breed companies to fulfil amazing technologies across most vertical markets.
About Simon
Simon is a global leader in retail real estate ownership, management and development and a S&P100 company (Simon Property Group, NYSE: SPG). Our industry-leading retail
properties and investments across North America, Europe and Asia provide shopping experiences for millions of consumers every day and generate billions in annual retail sales.
For more information, visit simon.com.
For further information regarding this project or details about Acquire Wayfinder contact the sales team: [email protected], or visit acquiredigital.com.
