City Centre Bahrain Building a Digital Future

CITY CENTRE BAHRAIN

BUILDING A DIGITAL FUTURE

As one of the most dynamic and successful retailers in the region, Majid Al Futtaim franchises some of the world’s best-known brands, making them flourish in new markets across the Middle East and North Africa. Majid Al Futtaim operates with a uniquely wide range of sectors, offering consumers the latest and most recognizable names in Fashion & Footwear, Food, Health & Beauty, Pharmacy, Optics, Home Furnishings, and Leisure & Entertainment. City Centre Bahrain, the premier shopping, entertainment, and lifestyle destination in the Kingdom delivers over 340 brands spread across 158,000 sqm to 14 million visitors every year. City Centre Bahrain always strives to create great moments for all mall visitors through its unique and first of a kind annual campaign, offers, and promotions. Yet, COVID-19 has been a global business disrupter, bringing unforeseen changes – not just to Majid Al Futtaim – but across industries and geographies. It had a massive impact on the entertainment industry with lockdowns, restrictions on the King Fahad Causeway, and has heavily reduced the number of flights to the Kingdom. Governmental restrictions included closing the Cinema, fewer customers in-store, social distancing measures in indoor dining, and even the complete restriction of dining-in with only takeaways available for long periods. Fortunately, technology and innovation are an integral part of City Centre Bahrain and Majid Al Futtaim’s operations. City Centre Bahrain has accelerated the use of digital transformation and invested in contactless retail solutions that create immersive experiences for customers that are safe and support retailers, even during the current challenging times. Most City Centre Bahrain retailers are introducing new technologies such as digital menus, QR codes, and online payment platforms, to help ensure contactless safety for customers.

Beyond the priority that is safety, City Centre Bahrain also prides itself on delivering the latest digital experiences to our customers. Our self-digital redemption stations, launching soon, will allow the mall’s customers to redeem their shopping receipts using mobile and tablet devices. Additionally, City Centre Bahrain has recently launched a car park assistant in which customers can easily locate their cars and vehicles by using the City Centre Bahrain’s application. All they have to do is to enter their license plate number and they will be assisted in locating their car on any of the six-car park levels. Social media is yet another area of focus for City Centre Bahrain to engage with mall customers and visitors through competitions, games and quizzes and these continue to reflect positively on the brand as well as engagement levels. Recently, for example, during our winter campaign, we launched two digital games which have driven outstanding engagement and interactions online. Looking forward, we have a clear vision of what the future holds. Majid Al Futtaim recently launched the Store of the Future, which is a concept that will allow customers to interact with the unique, fully digital, and physical concept store, incorporating an individual digital retail experience to showcase a futuristic shopping journey. The retail industry is an ever-evolving space, and this personalized experience gives customers a window into the future.

In the not-too-distant future, City Centre Bahrain may implement a live shopping initiative, which could allow customers to connect with brand partner sales associates virtually to get expert advice on a product, stock or collections. They would then be able to pay and have items delivered – so it would be a completely remote experience. Similarly, digital concierge service, where customers can connect with a Concierge team via WhatsApp to address a range of questions. From simple requests, such as opening hours, to more complex tasks such as fashion tips and recommendations. The concierge can then send pictures and videos of items and customers can purchase their selected products and have products delivered. City Centre Bahrain is an integral part of the Kingdom’s retail industry and Bahrain society and a significant contributor to the Kingdom’s economy. The recent digitalisation of our operations has supported modernizing the retail sector and building the nation’s digital infrastructure, bolstering digital transformation, and helping the sector further contribute to the country’s gross domestic product.

Duaij Al Rumaihi

Mall Director

City Centre Bahrain