Most retail REITs have web sites for their shopping centers, but upscale mall owner Taubman Centers Inc. has taken a different approach on theirs. Responding to focus groups drawn from shoppers at Taubman malls, the 30 web sites focus on what's on sale at the REIT's 4,000 tenants' stores.
The approach seems to be working.
"We ended 2001 with 350,000 registered users, 115% of our goal," says Carol Gies, Taubman vice president of marketing and center planning. "In addition, in the last quarter of 2001 we received nearly 5 million page views."
Visitors to Taubman mall web sites can download coupons that can be used at participating stores. The REIT reports that 90% of the customers who came to the Privilege clothing store in Los Angeles' Beverly Center in December carrying in a mall coupon offering $100 savings on purchases of $400 and up.
"It is the first time any shopping center has been able to promote each of its tenants to customers who specifically request the information, and we can update information every 24 hours on the Web site and send a new message each week through our e-bulletins," Gies says. "This by-permission, direct-to-the-home marketing is by far our most powerful and most measurable marketing tool."
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