Intro

 

Supervising shopping centers is a major challenge for actors in the retail and commercial real estate industry.

These spaces are highly frequented places of life and commerce, welcoming thousands of people every day. Safety, comfort, customer experience, and compliance with regulations are crucial issues for shopping center owners and managers.

 

In the face of these challenges, the use of operational intelligence is emerging as a promising solution to optimize shopping center supervision. By combining data collection and analysis technologies, operational intelligence improves operational efficiency, safety, and customer experience. In this context, the Busit Application Enablement Platform (Busit AEP) offers a data collection, processing, and interpretation solution to facilitate governance and decision-making.

 

Fundamentals

 

Supervising commercial centers involves efficiently managing all activities to maintain their operational efficiency and profitability.

 

Supervising a commercial center involves:

 

1. Planning strategic plans to optimize the performance of the commercial center, such as emergency plans, budgets, marketing plans, and security plans.

 

2. Constantly monitoring operations, essential to ensuring the proper functioning of the commercial center, which includes monitoring security cameras, employee and customer activities, merchandise stocks, and financial activities.

 

3. Communicating with stakeholders, including employees, customers, owners, and security personnel, essential to identifying and quickly resolving issues and addressing complaints.

 

4. Regularly training employees, essential to ensuring their efficiency and safety at work. Supervisors must ensure that the policies and procedures of the commercial center are known and respected by all.

 

5. Managing conflicts between employees and customers, as well as financial and security issues, in a prompt and professional manner, crucial to avoiding disruptions in the commercial center.

 

6. Compliance with current regulations on commercial operations and the environment, to avoid any sanctions or loss of stakeholder confidence.

 

What are the main objectives of shopping mall supervision?

 

 1. Ensure safety to guarantee that both customers and staff in the shopping center are secure, including monitoring, checking entrances and exits, and managing emergency situations.

 

2. Supervise the shopping center staff, ensuring they follow the policies and procedures in place and that they are adequately trained to provide quality service to customers.

 

3. Manage merchandise inventory in the shopping center, ensuring that it is sufficiently stocked and replenished to meet customer needs.

 

4. Enhance the customer experience by ensuring that the shopping center is clean, organized, and easy to navigate, and by addressing customer needs and complaints appropriately.

 

5. Optimize maintenance by detecting problems early to avoid higher costs associated with more complex repairs or complete renovations.

 

6. Manage buildings by monitoring the mechanical and electrical systems of shopping centers to detect potential failures and anomalies, and thus plan maintenance proactively.

 

7. Comply with current regulations on social and environmental responsibility, including energy efficiency within the buildings.

 

The implementation of an operational intelligence system such as Busit AEP contributes to achieving these objectives.

 

Stakes

 

Standards and regulations

 

Standards define technical requirements for reliable supervision of shopping centers, while regulations impose specific obligations on industry players to harmonize supervision practices.

 

In France, supervision of shopping centers is regulated by several regulatory texts that define the standards to be respected and the obligations of the various actors.

 

Here is an overview of the main regulations in force in France:

 

1. The Grenelle II law of 2010 sets ambitious objectives for the reduction of energy consumption in existing buildings. It requires in particular the realization of energy performance diagnostics and the implementation of action plans to improve the energy efficiency of buildings.

 

2. The law of January 21, 1995 on video surveillance defines the rules governing video surveillance in public and private places, including shopping centers. It specifies in particular the conditions for the installation and use of surveillance cameras, the rights of access of persons filmed and the obligations of image processing controllers.

 

3. The tertiary decree of 2019 imposes on tertiary buildings (including shopping centers) to achieve energy savings of 40% by 2030, 50% by 2040 and 60% by 2050, compared to their reference energy consumption. It also requires owners to implement an action plan to improve energy efficiency and to regularly monitor the energy consumption of buildings.

 

4. Environmental certification of buildings: several environmental certifications such as BREEAM, LEED or HQE aim to reward the most efficient buildings in terms of energy efficiency and environmental impact.

 

European directives also have an impact on the supervision of shopping centers.

 

Here are few examples:

 

1. The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), adopted in 2010, aims to improve the energy efficiency of buildings throughout the EU. It sets minimum requirements for the energy performance of both new and existing buildings, including shopping centers.

 

2. The Energy Efficiency Directive (EED), adopted in 2012, requires companies and buildings with more than 250 employees or more than 500 square meters of useful floor area to monitor their energy consumption and implement energy efficiency plans. Shopping centers may be subject to this directive if they meet these thresholds.

 

3. The European Directive 2014/52/EU on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment, which may apply to shopping centers with regard to the potential environmental impacts of new constructions or extensions of shopping centers.

 

Shopping centers are facing several challenges in the current context, such as competition, technological innovations, the rise of e-commerce, transparency and accountability to stakeholders, as well as profitability. In this context, the supervision of shopping centers plays an important role in ensuring their success and sustainability.

 

The issues related to shopping center supervision in the current context are described from the following perspectives:

 

1. Competition: shopping center supervision aims to prevent anti-competitive practices and ensure that competition is fair and equitable for all parties involved.

 

2. Technological innovations have an impact on shopping centers in terms of security, marketing, data management, and customer experience. Shopping centers are seeking to integrate the latest technologies to improve their competitiveness in the face of competition.

 

3. The development of e-commerce is leading to a decrease in foot traffic and revenue in shopping centers, which increases competition among them. To remain competitive, it becomes essential to offer a unique and attractive customer experience.

 

4. Transparency and accountability to consumers, tenants, neighboring residents, and society in general. Shopping center supervision aims to ensure compliance with applicable laws and standards, promote transparency and accountability in operations, and ensure that stakeholder concerns are taken into account.

 

5. Profitability: shopping center supervision is essential to achieve profitability objectives by monitoring economic performance while improving the customer experience.

 

And the European market?

 

Several factors contribute to the growth of the European shopping center market, including:

 

1. Urbanization: the rapid growth of densely populated urban areas stimulates demand for commercial spaces accessible by public transportation.

 

2. Increased living standards: the rising purchasing power in Europe contributes to the growth of consumption and strengthens demand for shopping destinations.

 

3. Diverse offerings: shopping centers bring together a multitude of brands, products, and services under one roof to meet the needs of consumers seeking convenience.

 

4. Innovation in offering new shopping experiences, utilizing new technologies, and offering additional services such as coworking spaces or cultural activities.

 

5. Advancements in data analytics technologies: the analysis of platform data such as Busit Application Enablement Platform (Busit AEP) helps detect trends and anomalies, allowing shopping center decision-makers and operators to make corrective, preventive, and follow-up decisions.

 

6. Tourism: shopping centers are often located in popular tourist areas, attracting tourists and stimulating demand for shopping centers.

 

Implementation

 

Information sources

 

Sources of information for supervising a shopping center are varied and include data such as foot traffic, parking usage, customer behavior, building energy consumption, and security data.

 

Platforms such as Busit Application Enablement Platform (Busit AEP) allow for the analysis of data from a large quantity of heterogeneous sources, enabling decision-makers and operators to make corrective, preventative, and monitoring decisions.

 

Here is a list of the most commonly used sources of information within shopping centers:

 

 

1. Information technology resources: Busit AEP collects data generated by servers, specific applications, CRM, ERP, and databases to gather insights on the shopping center’s activities.

 

2. Electricity meters measure the energy consumption of the shopping center and collect data on the quantities of energy used by zone, store, or equipment.

 

3. Environmental sensors installed in different areas of the shopping center collect data on thermal fluctuations, thereby measuring temperature variances and detecting potential energy losses. They also collect measurements of air quality inside the shopping center, including CO2 concentration and pollution levels.

 

4. Brightness sensors measure the level of brightness in different areas of the shopping center to gather data on the use of lighting and energy.

 

5. Noise sensors collect data on the noise level in the shopping center to optimize space layout and improve the customer experience.

 

6. Motion and counting sensors collect data on customer traffic in the shopping center’s aisles, their speed, behavior, etc.

 

7. Video surveillance cameras collect data on the number of people entering and exiting the shopping center, high-traffic areas, their duration of stay, etc. These cameras also allow real-time detection of suspicious behavior, incivility, or crowd movements.

 

8. Vehicle detection sensors are installed in parking spaces for centralized supervision and counting.

 

Once all this data is collected, it is integrated, aggregated, and processed in real-time by a supervision platform such as Busit Application Enablement Platform (Busit AEP).

Busit Application Enablement Platform (Busit AEP)

For data collection, analysis and monitoring

 

Information from shopping centers is collected periodically or continuously, depending on the monitoring needs.

The collection process involves remotely retrieving and recording data on the status of various areas within the shopping center through:

 

1. Connected equipment: BMS, cameras, concentrators, etc.
2. Sensors for measuring electricity consumption, movement, air quality, temperature, humidity, etc.
3. Servers, specific applications, CRM, ERP, databases, etc. 

Busit Application Enablement Platform (Busit AEP) is a real-time monitoring platform used for supervising shopping centers to collect, store, analyze, and visualize supervisory data from various sources such as equipment, sensors, applications, IT resources, and stakeholders (operational, decision-makers, visitors).

 

These data are then archived in data warehouses for further analysis and to comply with regulations.

 

Busit AEP’s advanced analytics, such as calculation, correction, or prediction algorithms, enable shopping center supervisors to detect anomalies or failures at the first signs.

 

The analysis and calculation methods are selected based on the specific objectives of each commercial space and adapted to the collected data to ensure accuracy and reliability of results.

 

These processes allow for detecting changes or movements in different areas of the shopping center caused by temperature variations, movements of personnel and customers, spikes in traffic, etc.

 

The data is also used to:

 

1. Monitor the progress of supervision tasks, evaluate the effectiveness of measures taken, and reinforce the structure or equipment accordingly.

 

2. Visualize data in real-time in the form of dashboards on web applications and smartphones to facilitate quick decision-making in the field.

 

Busit AEP’s applications and reports include detailed information on the collected data and the results of analyses.

They provide information on the context of supervision, relevant data among those collected, analysis methods, results, conclusions, and actions to be taken in case of anomaly or incident.

All of these processes brought by the Busit AEP platform allow supervisors to make decisions on safety, energy efficiency, customer experience, maintenance, and facilitate the management of shopping centers.

 

The supervision plan for shopping centers

 

Here are the key steps for implementing a supervision plan for a shopping center:

 

1. Identify specific objectives for the overall supervision of the shopping center, such as improving energy efficiency, enhancing customer experience, or managing personnel.

 

2. Evaluate the current processes and operations of the shopping center to determine areas that require improvement.

 

3. Establish key performance indicators (KPIs) for each objective. If the objective is to improve energy efficiency, KPIs could include annual comparisons of total energy consumption by zone at constant temperature.

 

4. Implement a system for collecting relevant data for each KPI, such as installing building management systems (BMS) and/or sensors to measure energy consumption.

 

5. Regularly collect information. This step requires the use of advanced data analysis platforms such as Busit Application Enablement Platform (Busit AEP).

 

6. Take and plan corrective measures based on the analysis results from Busit AEP.

 

7. Develop an action plan to improve performance in the identified areas.