Consumers in the catchment areas and visitors to the shopping centres
A shopping centre is a public area, and that brings with it certain responsibilities. Consumers spend a lot of time in Corio’s shopping centres and so we value their opinions. We need to meet consumers’ needs such that they will want to return. This means that centres must be well positioned in its catchment areas: supply (the range of products and services, and the entertainment) must be geared to consumers’ wishes, while the centre needs to be easily accessible and the ambience pleasant. There are a number of basic conditions that determine the ambience of a public area, and these are known as the philosophy of ‘clean, complete and secure’.
Clean refers primarily to consumers feeling that a centre is clean and not just to a cleaning programme.
Complete means ensuring that shopping centres are in a good technical state of repair in a way that is both visible and noticeable for consumers.
Secure refers to consumers’ general feeling of safety. Not only in terms of statistical security, but also the way in which a shopping centre conveys a feeling of security.
The ‘clean, complete and secure’ philosophy helps to create a pleasant ambience, in which the safety of the local residents is important and the consumer feels comfortable.
Corio also provides consumers with services that make shopping an even more enjoyable experience. These include excellent parking facilities, conveniences such as toilets and lockers, good signposting and information on the various facilities. Corio also creates ambience in its shopping centres by providing entertainment in the form of various leisure activities and events and ensuring the centres are smartly decorated.
The centre management in the business units is responsible for keeping up-to-date with visitors’ wishes and needs. They do this by conducting consumer satisfaction surveys, as well as market research in the catchment areas and recently also via blogs. In the Netherlands Corio has a service desk that consumers, local residents, tenants and other stakeholders can contact if they have questions, comments and complaints about shopping centres. The service desk will then respond as quickly and thoroughly as possible. The centre managers also maintain close relationships with tenants and share their knowledge and information so as to optimise the services they provide to consumers.
Source: Annual Report 2008, Chapter Corporate_Social_Responsibility, page 137 (PDF, 160 kB)
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