By Mario Toneguzzi

Canadian shopping centre owner Cadillac Fairview has launched a new mobile app to help consumers as they return to the in-person retail experience across the country.

The LiVE by CF app will be rolled out at all 19 CF shopping centres across Canada in English and French. It is customizable to a shopper’s local mall and offers access to more than 65 retailers and hundreds of thousands of searchable products. It is available in the App Store and Google Play store for iOs and Android.

Jose Ribau, Executive Vice President, Digital & Innovation of Cadillac Fairview, said the company set out to address retailer and consumer pain points across the entire shopping journey from discovery to delivery.

"The success of CF and our retail clients is inextricably linked and through a focus on digitizing the experience, we are committed to strengthening our relationships with our retail partners and helping them as they navigate this unprecedented time,” he said.

“There’s a different shopping behaviour now especially during the pandemic. We’ve seen increases in digital experiences. People are shopping with e-commerce. The physical stores are going to require, and are requiring, a lot of changes. So how do we as a landlord, how do we set up a platform that allows us to do the best of both? Imagine the efficiency and the promise of digital but the beauty and the inspiration of physical.

“There’s only a few examples in the world where we’ve seen this and I think there’s a tremendous opportunity for us to do that in Canada and the timing with respect to the pandemic just seemed like it made sense.”

Ribau said the app gives the shopping centre the ability to bridge the digital and physical shopping experiences with a focus on helping retailers optimize their brick and mortar investment.

“It starts with an app. It starts with the ability to interact with a customer and then ultimately it leads to this being on really the customers’ terms,” he said.

The LiVE by CF app can help shoppers in a number of different ways:

A mall directory in their pocket complete with property-specific maps and icon-based navigation cues to help plan the most efficient shopping routes;
Access helpful information related to COVID-19 safety protocols, such as up-to-date mall opening hours and the location of hand sanitizer stations;
Up-to-date retailer hours, including which ones are or are not yet open;
Search and tag favourite products right in the app for quick recall when shopping; and
Receive special offers directly from CF retailer partners for in-property savings

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⁣At Cadillac Fairview, we're always seeking to empower and support our retail partners. Today we announce our newest innovation - the LiVE by CF shopping app. Available now across Canada. Click the link in our bio to learn more. // Chez Cadillac Fairview, nous sommes en constante recherche pour habiliter et appuyer nos partenaires de détail. Aujourd’hui, nous annonçons notre nouvelle innovation : l’application de magasinage LiVE par CF. Disponible partout au Canada. Cliquez sur le lien dans notre bio pour en savoir plus. ⠀ --⠀ ⠀ ⁣#ravelbycf // #canretail // #cadillacfairview // #shopping // #canadianretailnews // #retailinnovation // #retailstrategy // #digitaltransformation // #retailindustry // #retailnews // #technology // #cantech // #digitalsolutions // #retailtech // #innovation // #technews // #canbiz // #cdnbiz // #cdntech // #retailrecovery ⠀

A post shared by Cadillac Fairview (@cadillac_fairview) on Jun 17, 2020 at 4:09am PDT

Cadillac Fairview is one of the largest owners, operators and developers of best-in-class office, retail and mixed-use properties in North America. The Cadillac Fairview portfolio is owned by the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, a diversified global investor which administers the pensions of more than 327,000 active and retired school teachers. The real estate portfolio also includes investments in retail, mixed-use and industrial real estate in Brazil, Colombia and Mexico. Valued at over $31 billion, the Canadian portfolio includes 35 million square feet of leasable space at 68 properties in Canada, including landmark developments, such as Toronto-Dominion Centre, CF Toronto Eaton Centre, CF Pacific Centre, CF Chinook Centre, Tour Deloitte, and CF Carrefour Laval.

For customers, having the mall directory in the palm of their hands, is a safer way for them to find where they want to go. Many COVID related information is available on the app.

“It’s very much about utility. The first release is really about that COVID recovery help the retailers. Some retailers have specials on or offers. We’re going to place those in there too so you know there’s things to do within there. But really the primary premise is around efficiency and safety,” said Ribau.

“There’s a lot of difficulty on the retailers’ side right now. Their marketing budgets are slashed, they’ve had to lay people off, they’re not really focused on what I call transformational events and transformational experiences. So what we’ve done is we’ve established a team of experts that do this for a living and our services are available with those retailers to partner with us. So if they want to load their product inventory into the app, if they want to promote their brands, if they’re doing a pop up of some kind, we’re open for business.”

Ravel by CF is the digital innovation hub of Cadillac Fairview — an organization focused on removing the friction from today's retail shopping experience, and unleashing the untapped potential of physical space and customer experience within some of the world's best commercial real estate, said the company.

Mario Toneguzzi, based in Calgary has 37 years of experience as a daily newspaper writer, columnist and editor. He worked for 35 years at the Calgary Herald covering sports, crime, politics, health, city and breaking news, and business. For 12 years as a business writer, his main beats were commercial and residential real estate, retail, small business and general economic news. He nows works on his own as a freelance writer and consultant in communications and media relations/training. Email: mdtoneguzzi@gmail.com

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