Shopping centre website design is somewhat niche in that it has to work for both customers who visit it and the various retail units within it. As such, there are elements that every shopping centre website should have to ensure that it works on all levels (and converts visitors to customers as much as possible). From our experience in this area of custom website design here at Webbiz, which includes Dublin’s famous Jervis centre; here are the five elements that these websites should have.
1. Pages for Each Store
Instead of simply having a single webpage that displays each of the stores, it is arguably better to have individual pages for each of them. Firstly this gives each store their own space and breathing room to display the likes of their opening hours, their branding, reviews and any other collateral that is connected to the brand. Secondly it gives the website the opportunity to have more pages filled with high quality content to help it rank in terms of SEO for popular search terms.
2. Dedicated Sales and Promotions Section
Even though it contains many stores, they will likely not always be running sales and promotions at the exact same time (expect for standard shopping events such as Black Friday etc.). So by having a dedicated sales and promotion section, you can collate all of the current offers being held across the entire shopping centre. As they can be viewed here altogether, this can be a very enticing page for your website viewers and can attract them to visit the shopping centre in person to shop.
3. Careers Section
With many stores under the one roof, they (along with the shopping centre as a whole) will require staff all throughout the year to work within them. As such, having a careers section / webpage acts as a singular destination for all of the staffing needs of the shopping centre. This will be especially useful (and is sure to see an influx of traffic) at peak shopping events throughout the calendar year such as Black Friday and Christmas.
4. Commercialisation Section
While understandably much of the content will be aimed towards potential customers, the website should not neglect content for the commercial units within it. Having a commercialisation section can showcase available units and rates for stores who may be interested in being based there. This section can also include the correct contact details on who interested parties should get in touch with – therefore easily establishing a direct link to bring new businesses and brands into the centre.
5. Easy to Use CMS
Taking all of the above into account, it is important that the website is built with an easy to use content management system (CMS). With so many moving parts at play when it comes to shopping centre websites, you will need a CMS that is easy to use when updating the various different sections and adding new pages for new stores etc. Webbiz can provide training on how to use this CMS – as well as offer our expert support services to manage this for your website altogether.
Five Elements Every Shopping Centre Website Should Have
As you can see, these websites require quite specific designs and content to be as successful as possible. With Webbiz, your shopping centre website design is a fully custom one for your needs that is crafted to solve your current pain points and drive both traffic to your website and footfall to your centre. You can see our work for the Jervis shopping centre here and contact us below.