Primaris Launches PRIMARCHÉ: First Ever Omni-Channel Shopping Centre Marketplace

Connecting our malls, retailers and shoppers, through the delivery of a world-class, frictionless customer experience, both in-store and online.

 

Toronto, November 11, 2021 - Primaris Management Inc. (“Primaris”) and Dropit Shopping (“Dropit”), a leading multichannel digital retail platform, are excited to announce an exclusive strategic partnership, and launch of the digital marketplace PRIMARCHÉ. This first ever retail innovation digitizes real-time store inventory within Primaris’ national shopping centre network into one marketplace, replicating the shopping experience online with one-cart checkout, and fast delivery from the shopping mall closest to the shopper’s location.

 

Please see the  PRIMARCHÉ video to learn how this integrated technology platform solves the challenges of the last mile.

 

“The global pandemic has accelerated trends in consumer behaviour that otherwise may have taken years to unfold. PRIMARCHÉ enables our shopping centres to better service the communities in which we operate and benefits our retail partners by creating efficiencies in last mile delivery,” said Patrick Sullivan, Primaris’ Chief Operating Officer.

 

As a forward-thinking, leading Canadian mall operator, Primaris is embracing eCommerce, positioning itself as a powerful player in Canada’s retail ecosystem.

PRIMARCHÉ will roll out across five Primaris shopping centres including Dufferin Mall (Toronto), Stone Road Mall (Guelph), Cataraqui Centre (Kingston), Orchard Park Mall (Kelowna), and Park Place Mall (Lethbridge) with additional malls to follow. Primaris will capture retail sales at the mall and receive a percentage of marketplace sales.

 

Through a confluence of technological advances powered by Dropit, PRIMARCHÉ achieves a previously impossible combination of convenience, shipping speed and fulfilment flexibility for retailers of all sizes, including local and independent stores.  Primaris, through the PRIMARCHÉ marketplace, enables its retailers to benefit from an additional online sales channel, greater brand exposure, and an expanded customer base.

 

“Dropit is proud to partner with the Primaris team to bring this Canadian-exclusive omnichannel solution to life. Primaris is a forward-thinking company with an extraordinary vision for the future of retail. Their dominant enclosed shopping centre portfolio is an ideal fit for the Dropit technology, and we are confident that the customer will be met with exceptional and seamless shopping experience”, says Stuart Ford, COO, Dropit.

 

Creating a Consumer and Retailer Solution

 

PRIMARCHÉ’s same-day and next-day delivery provide the choice and convenience customers have come to expect, whether they buy online and collect curbside, or purchase in-person and choose home delivery. The PRIMARCHÉ online collection allows customers to purchase products from different brands and stores, adding items to one cart with orders processed as a single shipment for a faster, more sustainable operation.

 

Fulfilment and Returns

 

ECommerce has traditionally relied on warehouse fulfilment models built far from where most customers live. The PRIMARCHÉ approach reduces shipping costs by shortening transit time within the Primaris portfolio of shopping centres already located in highly populated areas across Canada. This enables high-speed delivery, reducing delivery costs, and overcoming supply chain bottlenecks, last-mile challenges, and other logistical disruptions.

 

The PRIMARCHÉ omnichannel solution, powered by Dropit ’s sophisticated algorithms, accurately allocates the optimal shopping centre for fulfilment based on real-time store-specific inventory and customer proximity. Dynamically distributing inventories across the Primaris physical network achieves maximum flexibility and speed for both orders and returns. This provides tenants the functionality to return items to the store shelves directly, making the items immediately resaleable.

 

PRIMARCHÉ’s unique proposition is its ability to utilize the existing store inventory and convert the physical shelf into a distribution point for online fulfilment. As store stock can be simultaneously available for sale in the mall and online, Primaris is enhancing the sales potential of its retailers beyond traditional shopping hours.

 

Shipping and Courier Optimization

 

PRIMARCHÉ provides a cost-effective and flexible shipping service by working with Canada’s most reliable carriers. This gives participating stores peace of mind that orders will be delivered to the customer on time with the Primaris team handling all tracking, insurance, and customer service. The automatic booking system streamlines shipping with a multi-courier aggregator for all services based on performance and price. For the crucial last mile, Primaris is responsible for the collection and consolidation of all orders from each store prior to dispatch or curbside collection.

 

About Primaris

Primaris is a wholly owned subsidiary of H&R REIT.  Primaris owns and manages more than 7.5 million square feet of commercial space, including 17 enclosed shopping centres located across Canada. H&R REIT is one of Canada's largest real estate investment trusts with total assets of approximately $13.1 billion at June 30, 2021. H&R REIT has ownership interests in a North American portfolio of high-quality office, retail, industrial and residential properties comprising over 40 million square feet.

 

About Dropit 

Founded in 2016, Dropit is a multichannel digital platform with solutions for shopping centres, retailers, and consumers throughout the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, and Belgium. Dropit ’s omnichannel technology and solutions create opportunities for operational efficiency and customer convenience from fast and flexible fulfilment, cross-channel inventory visibility to streamlined shipping.

 

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Tammy Gilmer

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