A Practical Understanding of
Mobile—Its Challenges and Ability
to Enhance the Downtown
Experience
Agenda
 Mobile Apps - Presentation
 Presentations by App Providers / Partners

•Yplan
•NY Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA)
•Yelp
Q&A
Mobile Adoption & Market Share
Retail & Mobile
U.S. Online and Web influenced Retail Sales
($ billions)
Retail & Mobile
Retail & Mobile
Retail & Mobile
Opportunities for Downtowns
 Where can mobile apps be useful for
Downtowns?
•Integrated marketing strategy
•Resolve common complaints
•Tool to simplify choices
•Create an exciting experience
•Provide an avenue of exploration
Google Maps

Google Maps is the go to navigation app that pin points the location
of your destination, and finds the fastest route and method to get
there; it also identifies popular establishments;
Foursquare

Foursquare allows users to receive promotions or discounts from
nearby stores, find amazing new restaurants and allows users to
share insider tips on a nearby establishment
Yelp

Yelp provides customer reviews on retail establishments found in a
selected neighbourhood or in your nearby area using geolocation
SitOrSquat

The app SitOrSquat solves a unique yet realistic problem of finding
public restrooms in a busy downtown area. The app locates and
rates the cleanliness of restrooms found in your nearby location
Los Angeles Fashion District


LA Fashion District Business
Improvement District (BID),
App offers six services:
• Business finder (“50
destinations)
• Geolocation-powered parking
spot locator near the businesses
you want to visit,
• Parking spot saver so you know
where your car is
• Signage cheat sheet
• Link to the district's website,
Macy’
s

The new Macy’
s app provides special offers & in-store savings. The
new scan feature allows instant access to product details, videos &
more. Plus, if you are visiting Macy’
s Herald Square in New York
City, geolocation technology provides easy in-store navigation
YPlan

Yplan allows you to find the best events in London and NYC and
easily pay for the event while collecting rewards
Downtown Parking
eBay


The new eBay app offers all of the web functionality you love, plus, the
RedLaser barcode scanner makes it easy to search and sell items
Combined with the newly launched eBay Now, it is easier than ever to buy
anything, anywhere
Kate Spade Saturday


Kate Spade recently partnered with eBay to launched the latest retail
innovation that blurs the lines between shopping online and brick
and mortar retailing
After viewing the window display, pedestrians can easily order the
products at a nearby touch screen and receive it within a hour
Competitions
Challenge your communities to develop the best app that meet your
BID’
s objectives and reaches your goals
Make the Right Choice
Mobile App
Responsive Site
m.Site
App icon on the mobile
phone acts as a constant
reminder
One set of code optimizes
Can create a separate user
the website for all platforms
experience on mobile
and screen sizes
Push feature
Recommended by Google
Easier to code
Works without internet
connection
Search engine optimized
Faster than respondsive site
Initial app and subsequent
updates is subject to approval
Cannot create a separate
user experience for mobile
Need to maintain two sets of
code for website and mobile site
Need a separate set of code
for each mobile platform
Need to rebuild the
website from the ground up
Pros
Cons
High development cost
Requires downloading
Very difficult to program
Not search engine optimized
Challenges with Mobile Apps



Keeping up with the trends –Near Field
Communications (NFC), new operating system versions
Acquiring the right talent to execute your mobile strategy
Determining the initial platform (including web app)


Determining the device –smartphone or tablet
Investments required
• App Development –Wide range of costs $3K - $100K+
• Marketing and Execution
• Updates –customer feedback, version updates

Standing out in the crowd
Challenges
with Mobile
Apps
Not keeping an app
up-to-date or
listening to feedback
Tips on Mobile

Where does mobile applications fit in the grand scheme
of things? Mobile alone is unlikely to change the
downtown experience. It is important to think about
your overall objective (i.e. improve travel), and then
invest in mobile applications as well as other aspects (i.e.
implement bike lanes) to achieve the goal

If building mobile apps for each Smartphone platforms
(i.e. IOS, Android etc.) is too much of a financial and
time commitment, consider building a m.site or
responsive sites that work across multiple smartphone
platforms
Tips on Mobile

Embrace Technology: Whether it is mobile, or other
technologies, it is important to embrace them in order to
deeply engage your customers; follow customer behaviour

Stay consistent: Before building your mobile app, keep in
mind the type of experience your downtown/program wants
to offer, and make sure your mobile app keeps the experience
consistent

Consider partnerships: Why reinvent the wheel if you can
improve it; balance the pros and cons of partnerships with
existing app providers to effectively execute your strategy and
the pros and cons of creating a proprietary app
The Retail Shop.
Toronto  Chicago  Montreal
www.jcwg.com
(302) 373-6724
Suthamie Poologasingham
[email protected]
25