Are your antiquated policies regarding technology driving away customers?

I have been a senior executive for several major retailers and I am challenging my own long held policies regarding photography and multimedia in stores and malls. I think you should too.

Often we do things for so long that they become part of our DNA. Policies that made a lot of sense at one point haven't kept up with current technology. If we fail to see the world has changed and our policies must too then we risk alienating our customers! I was guilty of this until a recent trip I made.

I traveled to the Lighthouse Premium Outlets to visit my Kids Supercenter Store. It was a very slow Thursday. After visiting my store I decided to walk the center. I noticed that the Timberland store had closed and a Champion store had opened in its place. I decided to take a picture of the exterior store front and that’s when all the fun began.

“May I help you” a very large security guard loudly called out to me. I said, “No”, and proceeded about my business. He then informed me that I was not allowed to take pictures at the mall.

Let me paint the picture. This is an outside mall that is well landscaped with trees, benches and even a gazebo. It gives the customer the impression that they are in a public area or even a park. The mall was empty. There wasn’t anyone visible in the common area except me and the security guard. Look again at the picture, not a customer in sight. I was not in a suit and tie, I was dressed business casual. I appeared to just be a normal customer

When I challenged the security guard he explained that it was company policy (Premium Outlets/Simon). Before I proceed, let me be clear that the security guard was polite and professional. I was not upset with the staff. I was upset about the policy.

Outlet shopping is often an event for people; many times they are on vacation. A time when they might be inclined to take pictures. If I was a normal customer, I would have been angry. When I am unsatisfied with my experience in a mall/store/restaurant, I generally don’t complain I just leave and take my business elsewhere. 

On a slow day in a bad economy are we going to chase away one of the few customers?


I know all the reasons that policy exists:
• The retailers don’t want pictures taken
• Its private property
• We are concerned with terrorism.


But let’s look at some of the facts.
• If you do a Google image search for Lighthouse Premium outlets you will get 14,400 images.
• If you do a Google image search for Michigan City outlet mall you will get 45,110 images.
• Go to Google Maps and type in Lighthouse Premium Outlets and you can take a tour of the center with street level views. Here is the actual interactive Google Map of Lighthouse Premium Outlets. Look closely, that is the same shot I took except back a few more steps. Click on it, you can tour around the center. You can zoom in and out. Its quite extensive.

View Larger Map

• Go to YouTube and search for Premium Outlets you will find 744 videos.
• Premium outlets own web site provides pictures in the same area I was standing and a map of the center.

The reality is that the current policy isn’t working. It doesn’t prevent anyone from getting pictures or video of the center. It doesn’t stop terrorists from getting all the information they want. All it does is upset customers.

My own current policy prohibits any photos being taken in my store. Let’s think about that in today’s environment.

Suppose a customer comes into my store and sees a cute outfit she thinks would be perfect for her niece. She is not sure if her sister will like it, so she takes a picture with her blackberry and instantly emails it to her sister. Within seconds she gets a favorable response and makes the purchase. What happens if I prohibit that photo?

How about if a young teen is shopping in the mall. She spots a brand new store that just opened. She takes a picture of the store and posts it to her Facebook page from her phone. Now 500 of her friends instantly know about this great new store. Are we going to prohibit this?

Clearly there needs to be some rules. We probably don’t want to allow the news media to roam our stores and malls with a camera and a microphone. We probably need a policy prohibiting employees from publishing pictures or video of the store on line.

With our current policies we are living in the 80's. We must change our thinking and our policies to keep up with the needs and demands of our customers. I think that we need to loosen up these policies and allow customers to take pictures in our stores and malls.

What do you think?

Mark Libell