ECE has once again significantly expanded its Christmas season service campaign, “Heavenly Service,” this year.
In more than one hundred ECE-operated shopping centres in Germany, Italy, Austria, Poland, and the Czech Republic, numerous additional service offers with a greater number of service employees and even more small gifts are making Christmas shopping as easy, pleasant, and convenient as possible for customers.
The offers range from a gift-wrapping service to mobile seating to service employees who serve as Christmas pages, providing customers with information, bringing their purchases to their car, distributing small gifts or directing customers in the car park to the next free parking space.
“Particularly during the Christmas season, we completely rely on the strengths of brick-and-mortar retail: A good service offer, an atmospheric ambience, and a convenient shopping experience,” said Joanna Fisher, ECE Head of Centre Management. “That is why we are not only decorating the centre with our elaborate Christmas decorations, but also offering customers numerous additional offers with our ‘Heavenly Service,’ which enables a relaxed Christmas shopping experience even at wintry temperatures, in crowded shops, and with heavy shopping bags.”
From the car park director to the chocolate Santa: The following figures illustrate the large variety of additional Christmas offers that make up the “Heavenly Service” in the ECE centres:
Approximately 4,000 service employees will be deployed in over one hundred participating centres – for example, at the customer information desk, as concierges, car park director, for wrapping gifts, and as hostesses or pages.
Approximately 170 Santas and 700 angels will be working in the centres during the Christmas season.
Over 1.7 million high-quality chocolates, chocolate Santas, and bags of roasted almonds await customers as small gifts – again, significantly more than last year.
A total of approximately 55,000 gifts are expected to be wrapped for customers. To accomplish this, a total of over 544,000 feet of wrapping paper and approximately 420,000 feet of ribbon will be used.
Approximately 500 mobile reclining chairs offer customers additional opportunities for a short breather during their Christmas shopping.
RPA Perspective Christmas services are a little off the usual RPA patch but it’s interesting to note that ECE has invested heavily in the sorts of services perhaps more normally recognised in the hotel and hospitality sectors.
It is an area much discussed but not generally that well executed in the retail environment as yet, despite the fact that it is an obvious way of improving the physical experience of shopping, especially during the often frantic Christmas period.
Additional “Heavenly Services” ensure a particularly convenient arrival and departure, even in wintry weather: For example, pages will accompany customers who park on the upper parking level with umbrellas so that they can stay dry while going their cars.
In centres with especially large parking areas, shuttle services with golf carts will be available to transport customers to their cars. We even take care of personal advent greetings: At photo stations with instant printing, customers can create and send personalised Christmas cards.
