The newest trends in retail real estate technology - by Diana Podaski

Now that my feet have finally healed from the industry mecca we call RECon, it’s time to divulge my favorite learnings from the grueling, yet glorious four day Vegas conference. Because our industry is the turtle and not the hare in the context of adopting technology, I think it’s important to stay as much up-to-date as possible within this realm. We are moving from ample product to showrooms, wallets to mobile, mobile to wearables and from virtual reality (VR) to augmented reality experiences.

Jibestream – Focused on indoor nav and mapping. Offering turn-by-turn indoor navigation with custom-designed landmarks, as well as digitalized architectural diagrams transformed to maps. Westfield and GGP have already jumped on board. Will you?

Sensity – A company that embeds sensing and networking technology in retrofit and LED lights in shopping center parking lots. The technology provides real-time parking availability to shoppers, property-wide retail analytics to the owner and an overall increased sense of safety and security for all. Sensity was noted in: The Wall Street Journal, CNBC, CNN and Newsweek.

LiveNinja – A messaging platform that enables businesses to text message with customers. It takes communication beyond the normal website chat feature and broadens it up to any device, anywhere, anytime. It also keeps all messaging continuous so your brand can pick back up a conversation and get to know their customers better and provide more personal service. LiveNinja was noted in: TechCrunch, The Wall Street Journal, and VentureBeat.

Nymi – A wearable piece of technology that is similar to an ID but much more advanced. Think keyless entry or car fob as a starting point. This tech recognizes you in the elevator so no need to hit the floor your company is located on, it clears the security panel and opens the office door and recognizes you at your computer aka no more logins. It also encompasses NFC payment, tracks activity goals and a whole lot more.

Swapbox – Think automated post office, but WAY better…at your shopping center. A consumer can drop off an item at the Swapbox, tell the kiosk where it is being shipped, and then Swapbox will professionally package and ship the item for you. The best part? - No boxes, no tape and no lines. Swapbox tracks the shipment and sends you a notification when it arrives. Oh, and you can have items shipped to a Swapbox for easy pickup too, no more “final attempt” sticky notes left on your door. Swapbox was noted in: TechCrunch, New York Post, ABC, CBS and Bloomberg Businessweek.

Cinematique – Clickable video where you can click on products in a video, and all items you click are stored in a small icon on the video. When the icon is clicked, you can see all of the products you clicked on in the video, displaying more information about the products including pricing and a “Buy Now” button. It’s a pretty neat way to showcase product and increase sales, especially since the videos allow you to be very creative in your marketing. If only this worked for leasing space…best used for retailers.

Fun Fact: “Zero square footage” refers to a store with no product, just photos physically displayed that you scan to purchase items.

Diana Podaski is VP - marketing and social media at Linear Retail Properties, Burlington, Mass.