Westfield Corporation’s digital strategy is focused on better connecting consumers and retailers, both physically and digitally, by converging the physical portfolio with digital environments. We believe the digital evolution is important to ensuring the ongoing success of the company as more retailers focus on their ‘omni-channel’ strategies and ‘online-only’ retailers explore physical options.

Westfield Labs
In 2012, Westfield Labs was established in San Francisco, the global hub of technology innovation and development, to enable Westfield Corporation to be at the forefront of technological developments in retail.
In late 2015, Westfield Corporation established a new data analytics capability to enable the Group and its retail partners to better capture and understand data generated across our business and assets and to utilise this data to create relevant and compelling end-to-end retail innovations and experiences.

During 2015, Westfield Labs successfully rolled out a unified digital platform across the Westfield portfolio. It also commenced piloting an integrated digital suite of services at Westfield London including express car parking, wayfinding, food ordering, product search capabilities and digital kiosk which we intend rolling out across our portfolio in the coming years.

In early 2016 Westfield Labs launched “The Connected Commerce Accelerator” program in partnership with R/GA, a leading digital creative agency, to enable start-up businesses to develop new technologies that reimagine, reinvent and disrupt the future of commerce. Major brands sponsors of the program include Macy’s, Shopify Plus, Bank of America Merchant Services and Verizon.

The importance of this data analytics capability was highlighted in a keynote speech by Co-CEO Steven Lowy at the National Retailer Federation’s “Big Show” in New York in January 2016.

The speech focussed on the convergence of digital technology with physical retail space and stressed the importance of retailers and centre operators sharing data, collaborating and expanding their partnerships in order to drive competitiveness, transformation and success in a rapidly changing landscape.

A video of Steven Lowy’s keynote speech and the panel discussion featuring Sir Charlie Mayfield and Kevin Plank can be accessed by clicking here.

Bespoke
In 2015 Westfield launched Bespoke in its Westfield San Francisco centre. The concept behind Bespoke is to create a physical ecosystem that enables retail technology businesses to research, create, refine, collaborate, showcase and debut their initiatives within the shopping centre environment.