With e-commerce sales expected to continue to soar even after state lockdowns are lifted, the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) predicts that 48 per cent of Christmas shopping will take place online this year.
Scentre Group, which operates 37 Westfield Living Centres nationwide, is firmly promoting omnichannel shopping. Late last week the shopping centre giant debuted Westfield Direct, with more than 100 key retailers and brands on-board from the start.
The service was trialed last year and allows consumers to purchase from multiple businesses, brands and retailers in one online transaction at any of its Westfield centres.
Once an order is placed, customers can choose home delivery or Click-and-Collect from designated Westfield Direct service desks at their local centre.
Members of the Westfield Plus loyalty program will access reward credits on their Click-and-Collect orders and other major benefits as incentives to visit their local Westfield complex.
Westfield Living Centres are crucial to the Australian beauty industry because of their high number of leading retailers and brands in the sector, including Myer, David Jones, Mecca Maxima, Sephora, L’Occitane, Priceline, Jurlique, The Body Shop, Aesop and more.
Phil McAveety, Scentre Group Chief Consumer and Business Development Manager, points out that every Westfield Living Centre is now a Westfield Direct distribution hub. “Westfield Direct offers more convenience, flexibility and choice for our customers to shop Westfield, any time, anywhere – still with the human connection they value.
“Westfield Direct provides our business partners with the opportunity to increase the productivity of their physical store networks, whilst alleviating the time-intensive and costly process of fulfilling and delivering orders.”
Westfield Direct also presents a significant growth opportunity for our SME retail partners, many of whom only have one or two physical stores and no online presence, he noted. “We’re looking forward to supporting them through this transition and introducing them to new Westfield customers, particularly in the run-up to Christmas.”