The key to success in a business is not to only make a profit and sell something consumers want, but also to differentiate yourself from the competition so you have something no one else does. When you are a mall developer differentiating yourself could be hard because you are building something your consumers (retailers) are used to and the unknown is never a good place retailers like to explore. Simon has done a great job in inventing a shopping experience that adds to the consumer experience and is something new and exciting that their competition is not doing.
Simon created next generation digital directories that allow consumers to search for stores and even get directions and have them texted to their phones. This adds for convenience and shopper gratification.
Simon has also created an application to reserve parking spots at the malls. This is huge in areas where parking is scarce or during busy shopping times like weekends and holidays.
Simon has already created a Facebook messenger bot that allows shoppers to text and ask questions about stores, restaurants, sales, and other information on stores within the mall.
Simon is currently rolling out its new Digital Voice Translator for non-English speaking shoppers, which adds a huge benefit to retailers to help and assist in increasing sales. A happy customer is more like to spend money if they can ask questions about a product and gather the information needed to make an informed purchase.
Simon has also created Dropit, which allos customers to drop of packages or bags at a Dropit location in the mall so they don’t have to lug around multiple things all day. Then when they are ready to leave Dropit will deliver the packages to them for free.
As you can tell there are so many interesting and cool things Simon is doing to differentiate the shopping experience, which may be one reason why the malls continue to thrive in an otherwise dying industry.
Simon Property Group 
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