CAPITAL WATCH ISSUE 1 2018

A s someone who spends her time positioning and repositioning shopping centres, I wondered whether I might find a solution to the challenges of modern retail among the ferns. Perhaps what I was seeing was the “Petersham effect” (a luscious new retail and restaurant empire in Covent Garden). Should we be filling our retail destinations with flowers and Monty Don?? In an industry where experience is everything, this felt like a good start, but then I stumbled across a very different piece of the puzzle… Nestling in between the lupins and the salvia – very on-trend in the gardening world – I found a company that is trying to match delight and personalisation with a clever new business model based on data insights and guided footfall. The black and white floor tiles designed by Pavegen for the Kate Gould and New West End Company’s garden are much more than they seem. Their technology harnesses the power of the footstep and uses it to create power, data and engagement. As people walk through the garden and step on their special tiles, they generate off-grid electricity that can be used to power experiences – whilst also learning more about you. But gardens are the tip of the iceberg for Pavegen – the most significant application of their technology is in retail environments. In today’s omni-channel retailing environment, the maintenance of a discrete P&L ledger for each store is a bit of a challenge. A sale may well happen online after browsing in-store, or get lost in a much bigger store network. It therefore becomes more complex to assess the value of the store in creating the sale. If the role of the store is to create customers and increase our willingness to buy – rather than just being there to effect a sale – then surely footfall and customer engagement are key in measuring its contribution. These factors are both at the heart of Pavegen’s proposition. More than just creating electricity, Pavegen wants to create more meaningful connections with brands by generating data and rewards. Their technology harnesses the power of the footstep and uses it to create power, data and engagement Their technology allows them to track footfall patterns and numbers anonymously, whilst also collecting permission-based data in what they describe as “a fair exchange of value”. By integrating the Pavegen interface into a brand’s own app, they can offer rewards for walking over their tiled floor or interacting with their installation. This gives retailers and shopping centre owners the information they need to create a more personalised shopping experience and drive consumer behaviours. An example of this is where Pavegen collaborated with the team at The Mercury, an Ellandi- CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD 31 #TRENDING