Milford’s Post mall launches online shopping platform
MILFORD — As brick- and- mortar shopping continues to suffer from online competition and more recently the coronavirus pandemic, the Connecticut Post Mall has launched an e- commerce platform that will allow shoppers to search and buy products online from select stores at the retail center.
The “Shop Now!” platform, quietly launched last week, uses the mall’s existing website. If consumer decides to make a purchase using the platform, they then can decide whether they want the product shipped to their home, delivered curbside to their cars at designated spots at the mall or pick up their purchase at the store.
Ken Sterba, the mall’s general manager, said the launch of the e- commerce option is the result of lessons Connecticut Post officials learned while adapting to crowd restrictions associated with the pandemic.
“We realized that our shoppers want new and different ways to interact with us that give them the convenience of online shopping, but the ability to support and work with local retailers they know and love,” Sterba said. “With Shop Now!, they get both.”
The search function for the e- commerce platform allows consumers to search for a specific product, such as red shoes. Results of the search will show which retailers have red shoes and how much they cost.
More than 70 percent of the mall’s retailers already have their merchandise available through the online platform, according to mall officials, who said they expect full participation from all of the more than 150 Connecticut Post tenants by sometime next year.
The Shop Now! platform also allows consumers to book services such as hair and nail appointments or order food from mall restaurants.
The mall’s Dallas, Texas- based owner, Centennial, also is rolling out the e- commerce platform at its other retail centers. Centennial CEO Steve Levin said the launch of Shop Now! is a recognition that “retail isn’t about brick- and- mortar vs. online shopping.”
“It’s about the seamless convergence of these two channels in a way that makes sense for the consumer,” Levin said.
Centennial developed the Shop Now! platform in partnership with A dept mind, a Toronto- based technology company specializing in artificial intelligence and and e- commerce.
David Cadden, a professor emeritus at Quinnipiac University’s School of Business, called the idea of a mall owner getting into the e- commerce business “very leading edge.”
“It’s definitely where that sector of business is headed,” Cadden said. “The whole idea is to have as much convenience as possible while keeping the store viable.”