Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
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J u L Y 2 0 1 5 / S C T 11 Advances in mobile, online and cloud technology are rapidly accelerating the deal-making process, cutting paperwork, travel expenses and time, executives say. Today's data tools allow companies such as Regency Centers to disseminate deal analytics and other crucial information to all parties inside and outside the company around the world, said the company's senior vice president and chief information officer, Dale Johnston, at Tuesday's RECon session, Quantum Leap: Deal Making in the 21st Century Using Current Technolo- gies. "It assures cost savings and quality control." Kimco Realty uses an all-encompassing lease- management application "that has really been an enabler for the whole Kimco team and the asset manag- ers," said Thomas Taddeo, the company's vice president and chief information of- ficer. Kimco's app ties in the leasing group with its legal group and real estate approval committee, allowing everyone to become immediately privy to lease negotiations. "It saves us significant time and money," said Taddeo. In fact, CVS's senior vice president of real estate, Robert Marcello, said similar companywide automation it uses "has basi- cally cut our deal-cost in half." It has also cut time spent on "dead deals" by nearly 20 percent, he said. Brian Strickland, director of market analytics for Signet Jewelers, said the chain's travel expenses have dropped significantly because of such technology. "With the photo, video and mapping technologies, plus the aerials and street views, you can avoid having to get on a plane in many cases." It also allows the retailer to share informa- tion with trusted vendors. For example, Signet has linked more than 15 "preferred developers" into its system, who in turn share their evaluations of other properties and mar- kets that Signet may be interested in, Strickland said. Taddeo said data transparency — making all the real estate information available to everyone at the company — has become a crucial collaborative initia- tive. "Integrating this into everything we do, and getting those outliers into the data set and tying it into market intelligence, is a big priority for us." One future initia- tive at Signet, he says, will be doing away with spread- sheets and other raw data and synthesizing that infor- mation into more practical and readable form. PINTEREST PuSHES 'BuYABLE' PINS Social-networking website Pinterest is taking its first crack at e-commerce. The service, called Buyable Pins, enables consumers to discover a product on- line, electronically save (or "pin") the link to a Pinter- est board and then pur- chase the item directly on the website. Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft, Macy's, Nei- man Marcus and Nord- strom are among those participating. "Buyable Pins remove barriers in the journey from inspiration to creation, so Jo-Ann is incredibly excited to be included in the in- troduction, granting our customers increased conve- nience in their creative pro- cesses," said Chris DiTullio, Jo-Ann's vice president of e-commerce and omni- channel. At present, DiTul- lio says, there are some 4.2 million pins on Pinterest linking back to Joann.com. Pinterest is an increasingly important social marketing tool for retailers, says Brian Lutz, director of mobile and digital strategies for CBL & Associates. Lutz says Pinterest recently replaced Facebook at the most effec- tive social-media sales driver for CBL. Technology saving leasing time, money '' With the photo, video and mapping technologies, plus the aerials and street views, you can avoid having to get on a plane in many cases. "