– 685,000 sq m of retail space

– 90 million visitors every year

– Powered by Retail Advantage, the white-labelled solution – MagNET delivers accurate business analytics, reporting and communications for truly connected- centres in one easy to use package

THE CHALLENGE

In 2005 McArthurGlen decided to streamline the way they communicated and reported information between head office, centres and tenants. The key requirements were:

• Improve the speed in which data can be collected and collated from tenants
• Enhance performance with analytics of market trends and sales data to help partners identify areas for growth
• Save time and resources with a method of validating the information with multiple data quality checks
• Complex calculations made easy, freeing time for deeper KPI analysis and better ROI from the data to guide leasing strategies
• Enhance tenant community engagement with content feeds and timely critical notices
• Strengthen communications across the portfolio by bringing data together from a number of systems including leasing, CRM and other key devices such as footfall and customer monitoring systems

THE RETAIL ADVANTAGE SOLUTION

Working closely with ART Software Group, McArthurGlen used Retail Advantage to launch a complete retail performance management platform to facilitate their reporting and communication, and we have been working together for over 15 years. Retail Advantage smoothly integrates with McArthurGlen’s key systems to verify and transfer information, such as leasing, CRM, asset management and their corporate extranet. 

Maximise performance, reduce time and costs 

Arming centre management with tools, available in a number of languages, which present analytics that genuinely help teams perform better and be connected in smarter ways. Retail Advantage provides reporting and data visualisation to users across McArthurGlen’s entire business locations. 

Purpose-led Partnership

Instead of a static solution where we simply dictate how things should work, Retail Advantage is a base platform that is often enhanced by client requests and the long standing collaboration is a testament to this. Retail Intelligence tools have long been an essential part of McArthurGlen’s strategy, delivering accurate business analytics in real-time and connected-centres focused on shared knowledge and objectives.

Reaching ESG commitments through clear data

Dedicated to reducing carbon emissions in support of McArthurGlen’s 2040 Net Zero ambitions, smart reporting tools help understand the data on both economic and environmental grounds to:

• Reduce energy demand
• Increase on-site renewables
• Reduce waste streams
• Embed safety and security
• Engage in collective action with brand partners

“It is integral that we are able to provide our brand partners with the knowledge, background and trade patterns of our centres as well as the locations, regions and countries in which they trade. Working with ART Software Group enables us to gather, analyse and dissect data from a wide selection of sources on a daily basis. We are then best placed to support our brand partners in performance maximisation, with a spotlight on delivering the best experience for our guests.” Eleanor James, Head of Brand Development – McArthurGlen Group

Learn more about Retail Advantage and our work with McArthurGlen in RLI ‘Realising the Real Value of Data‘, where Gareth Jordan, Director at ART Software Group and Eleanor James, Head of Brand Development at McArthurGlen, discuss data in action.

THE CHALLENGE

Realm approached ART Software Group in early 2011 looking for a solution to enhance the data and communications for progressive retail asset management and fully joined up thinking for their shopping outlets. The key requirements were:

• Achieve full visibility and consistent analysis with aligned data quality goals and standards across different sites for a more effective basis of decision making across the portfolio 
• Support leasing work and brand partnerships with tools to take KPI investigation further, support operational excellence and inform leasing models 
• Save time and resources on labour-intensive processes of data collection and easily access sharable insights to assist tenant goals and performance
• Reduce the time taken to create tailored reports for head office, clients and stakeholders 
• Improve the communication on all assets providing fully joined up thinking on leasing, marketing, development, commercial operations, facilities management and finance
• Enhance the interaction with the tenant community with engaging content feeds and essential notices

After a full investigation of the systems available Realm decided that Retail Advantage was the most capable solution to meet their requirements. The system is designed specifically for the retail and leisure destination sector and therefore the majority of features and reporting they needed were already present in the system.

THE RETAIL ADVANTAGE SOLUTION

ART’s Retail Advantage software was launched into Lakeside Village outlet in Doncaster in late 2011, and has since been implemented across Realm’s managed Outlet portfolio including London Designer Outlet, the capital’s first fashion and lifestyle outlet. 

“We introduced RA at London Designer Outlet for the opening in 2013 having already established the benefits of the system across the wider Realm managed Outlet portfolio. The sales collection and analysis platform was therefore, well proven but since then we have worked closely with ART on the development of other features including the APP and integration with other performance KPI’s such as footfall and car park data. With the ongoing development activity across the wider Wembley Park and opening of additional full price retail units and additional F&B offers the extension of the RA platform made perfect sense given the established benefits within the Outlet sector – allowing our management team to fully understand the performance of the various retail and F&B units and also the significant impact of events across the area including the Stadium and Arena.” Colin Brooks, Managing Director – Realm

ART’s understanding of data aggregation and visualisation helped Realm to quickly create a solution specifically tailored in collaboration to their growing needs. Centres, clients, management and tenants are benefiting from streamlined processes and the targeted analysis of data on-demand.

Decision intelligence 

Visualisation of data is provided through charts, trend-maps, heat-maps and tabular reports. These are offered through both ‘widgeted’ dashboards and direct stand-alone reporting. Realm use this as a key part of their daily management, keeping abreast of what is happening on the ground to adapt, adjust and change to address problems and capitalise on opportunities with speed.

“We work with the stores from what their shop front looks like, to marketing, to stock packages, to point of sale. We want our retailers to perform to their best ability. In return, the retailers are willing to share their data. We monitor the data very carefully on a daily basis. And we know exactly the performance of each store throughout our portfolio” Dan Mason, Co-Founder and Managing Director – Realm, interviewed in Across magazine, April 2023

Retail Advantage delivers intelligent tools to unlock data and helps teams work more effectively – managing retail and leisure destinations and developing complex strategies to improve asset value.