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Social Networking for Malls

Written by Tom Ryan
By Tom Ryan

The Mall at Robinson in Pittsburgh on August 8 became the latest mall property to launch on the social networking website, Shoptopia. Created by Mallfinder Network, Shoptopia describes itself as the first online shopping portal designed to drive traffic to local shopping centers.

Similar to other social networking sites, users sign up to create profiles and personalize their shopping preferences. They discover, collect and organize favorite products with Shoptopia Lists; seek the opinions of like-minded shoppers and share a shopping experience with family and friends in the Talk section. Shoppers can peruse all major categories including, Women's Fashion, Men's Fashion, Kids, Gadgets, Home, Health & Beauty, and Eco-Green.

Where the malls come in is that once a user creates a profile identifying their preferences, they may receive exclusive perks and deals from malls such as The Mall at Robinson affiliated with the program, as well as from Shoptopia. Retailers can also provide these frequent shoppers with the product information and promotions that are relevant to them, the service promises. In its collateral, Shoptopia suggests stores can promote store sales, new merchandise, in-store events, as well as offer giveaways and prizes for special events and programs to its users.

"Shoptopia helps us build relationships with customers and provides them with information about the retailers and promotions that are specifically relevant to them," said Shema Krinsky, marketing director, The Mall at Robinson, in a statement. "This allows us to translate the online shopping experience into a trip to the mall for people who love the experience of shopping in a store."

Shoptopia was first launched last October for four shopping centers: Short Pump Town Center in Richmond, VA; Galleria at Sunset in Las Vegas; the Promenade Temecula in California; and the Mall at Stonecrest in Lithonia, GA. It's also being launched at the Charleston Town Center in Charleston, WV. Mallfinder plans to have 25 properties using the service before the 2009 holiday shopping season.

"When using more than one channel to shop for goods, 75 percent of consumers overwhelmingly prefer to move from online to brick-and-mortar locations," said John Dee, president of Mallfinder Network. "We launched Shoptopia to meet the needs of these consumers and to connect them directly with brands and products available locally."

Discussion Questions: How well do social networking tools apply to malls and shopping centers? What do you think of Shoptopia?

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