FOR OPTIMIZED PROCESSES AND PRODUCTS
DIGITALIZATION & AUTOMATION
A digital tenants portal and rental agreement, a new customer loyalty app, high-tech digital info screens, the use of AI technology – ECE is constantly working to improve our B2B and B2C products and processes so that we can keep pace with our business partners’ growing needs.
NEW FOR CONSUMERS:
AN EYE-CATCHING XMAS EXPERIENCE POWERED BY AI AND VR
In December 2023, a cable car in the middle of the Alstertal shopping center in Hamburg took more than 9,000 visitors young and old on a virtual magic journey to the North Pole, so they could give the real Santa Claus their Christmas list (which they completed in advance). To advertise this special attraction, the first of its kind in Germany, ECE relied for the first time solely on AI tools to create powerful, eye-catching visuals. These were then displayed on the center’s advertising channels.
NEW FOR TENANTS:
THE TENANTS PORTAL
At the end of 2023, ECE launched a new, clearly structured tenants portal, which tenants can use to quickly and easily log their sales, receive invoices and credit notes, and access reports. They can also view relevant information about their center:
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A sales report (showing sales trends for their own rented units over the years)
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Sales trends in their sector (for sectors with at least four tenants)
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Footfall figures
NEW FOR CONSUMERS AND TENANTS:
DIGITAL CENTER NEWS CLUB
ECE’s new Digital Center News Club (DCNC) is Germany’s most highly localized center information system for real-time digital communication. What makes it special is that only center-specific and shopping-related content is displayed – perfectly timed to positively influence visitors’ purchasing decisions right when they’re at the POS.
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Exclusive marketing options for tenants
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Up-to-date local center information displayed in real time
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Relevant shoptainment content
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Replacement for analog media such as illuminated signs and A1 posters
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Emergency system for center in various languages
Following installation of digital screens in the first few centers, they will be rolled out to more than 70 ECE centers by the end of 2024. //
> 1,800
SCREENS WILL BE INSTALLED BY THE END OF 2024
NEW FOR CONSUMERS:
APP AND NEWSLETTER TO STRENGTHEN CUSTOMER LOYALTY
As part of our B2C digitalization strategy, the “Consumer Ecosystem,” ECE has developed a new app, which is currently being piloted in a small test group of center customers. Once the pilot phase is complete, the aim is to optimize the app based on customer feedback and then roll it out. In addition, a new center newsletter was launched in 2023. There will be a focus on marketing automation, which means all new features, channels, and processes will be developed using a central automation tool so that the digitalization strategy can be implemented at minimum cost and effort and budgets can be used more efficiently.
17 %
HIGHER NEWSLETTER OPEN RATE THAN THE RETAIL BENCHMARK
NEW FOR TENANTS:
THE DIGITAL RENTAL AGREEMENT
Quick, easy, and with minimal red tape: Introduced in May 2023 for regional rentals, the new digital rental agreement the often complex contracts that used to be individually negotiated between ECE and tenants. The goal was to make the process of moving into shopping centers easier for new tenants. Following a successful pilot phase at 45 centers in 2023, during which more than 100 rental agreements were signed, the digital agreement is being rolled out to other centers in 2024. In the future, it will also be used for nationwide rentals.
50 %
THE DIGITAL LEASE CONTRACT IS SHORTER BY