Westfield’s OneMarket platform shapes up against Amazon

shoppng center branding

Westfield acts to level the playing field in this increasingly Amazon dominated marketplace.

The world of retail has been shaken by the emergence of Amazon as the world’s leading platform like no other development in my 25 years of branding. If retailers aren’t kept awake at night by the growth of this Goliath, they either should be, or are thanking their lucky stars for the investment they have already made in building a differentiated brand with ultra loyal consumers.

Global Shopping Center business; Westfield have this year launched their technology platform with the single goal of beating Amazon at their own game – or at least leveling the playing field. OneMarket is an AI-powered, data-driven shopping platform that seeks to provide their retail tenants with an online place to compete with Amazon.

In a recent interview with PSFK, OneMarket President and Westfield Corporation Board Member Don Kingsborough discussed how Westfield’s OneMarket is attempting to transform their fragmented retail industry into an integrated one.

Kingsborough says they had to consider; “How can we develop a platform that enables the consumer to shop in one, streamlined way, even though it’ll be across multiple retailers? That’s a way to level the playing field against a very ferocious competitor like Amazon.

What we’re doing is essentially creating an underlying network and set of platforms that enables retailers and shopping malls to go from slow to fast, instead of from big to bigger. We are developing technologies that allow them to adopt solutions much more economically, and give them the opportunity to start taking physical spaces and turning them it into an advantage.and winning against their competitors for the first time.” Said Kingsborough.

The vision for this new retail space is neither just bricks and mortar, nor just digital. New retail must combine theater and experience with the ease of digital to not only fit seamlessly into the life of customers (even more-so than Amazon does today), but create enjoyable moments of wow. In the race for convenience that digital offers, the opportunity is for retail brands to work together to create the type of memorable experience you can only get in real life.

Dave Ansett
David is the founder of Truly Deeply, a brand agency with 25 years experience working with brands to position them for growth. His deep expertise is in the creation of high engagement brands that attract the attention of their audience and stand out from their competitors. David has extensive experience working with corporate, retail, food & beverage and entrepreneurial clients. Find out more here
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Pic courtesy Westfield.

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