Customer story · Nivy

How Nivy got 35,000 loyalty members in just 4 weeks

Nivy in Bratislava opened its doors in autumn 2021 and launched its loyalty app with Emplate at the same time. In the first month, customers looked at something in the app more than 2 million times.

Bratislava, SlovakiaOwned and operated by HB Reavis300+ storesOpened 2021

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Nivy shopping centre in Bratislava at night

In-app views in 1 month

2,000,000+Times customers viewed something in the app

The goal

A digital presence rooted in the physical centre

Nivy is much more than a place to shop. It is a community hub with a focus on nature, and its goal for going digital was a classic one, approached in a new way.

What Nivy wanted

1A digital presence that stays rooted in the brick-and-mortar centre

2Customers who feel like members of one Nivy community

More than 300 stores, and a lot more

When fully open, Nivy is home to 300+ stores, plus:

Bus stationLocal produce marketGreen rooftopCommunity gardenRunning trackKids' playgrounds

In hindsight, it was an even better decision to have chosen Emplate – The Mall Engagement Platform as the solution for our digital mall project than we could initially have imagined.

Peter TerpakGroup Marketing & PR Director, HB Reavis

Approach 1 · Omnichannel

The app feeds every other channel with insight

Nivy has a thorough omnichannel approach, and the app plays an important part. Insights from the app, such as consumer behaviour, are used across other channels, for example in better targeted social media ads.

In the centre

Nivy app

Customer insightsData from every component

Used everywhere

Social media ads

Website

App

Approach 2 · Content

Nivy's own content comes first, tenants are a bonus

For many centres, tenant content is the bread and butter of the app. Nivy built its app around its own content instead.

Nivy app start screen — Nivy's own brand

The first 3 home rows are Nivy's
The home tab is customised so the first three rows are posts made by Nivy itself.
Built around the loyalty programme
Nivy decides that the app is first and foremost about the loyalty programme, not tenant offers.
One visual identity
Nivy's look runs through the app and every post it creates, for a unified experience.
Fewer posts, more views
Nivy posts far less than its tenants, yet its posts get the bulk of the views because they are highly relevant.

Smart services

The loyalty app connects to smart services in the centre

Nivy's loyalty app and programme are connected with smart services in the centre, such as drive-in-and-out parking with automated payment and in-centre blue dot wayfinding.

Nivy app map with blue dot wayfinding — Wayfinding

Drive in and out
Parking with automated payment, so visitors drive in and out of the centre.
Blue dot wayfinding
The in-centre map shows visitors where they are with a blue dot.
Connected to loyalty
Parking and the map sit in the same app as the loyalty programme, its levels and points.

Approach 3 · Loyalty

Tier-based loyalty that turns visits into a game

The loyalty programme is the core of Nivy's app and the key to building a community. What sets it apart is that it is tier based.

Points for visits and actions

Customers earn points for visiting the centre and for completing actions that Nivy decides, such as visiting a selected store.

Level up

With enough points, customers move up a level and unlock level 2 or level 3 prizes. Redeeming rewards does not cost them their progress.

IIIIII

Behaviour Nivy wants

A goal to strive for makes customers visit more often and explore parts of the centre Nivy wants them to see, while feeling valued.

Results of the launch

35,000+ downloads and 2 million in-app views

The app launched as Nivy opened, before all stores were open or in the app. That did not stop it: downloads passed 35,000 in the first week of November 2021, and customers kept coming back.

35,337Total downloadsBy the first week of November 2021

2m+In-app viewsIn just 1 month

7%+Of the whole cityDownloads in 1 month, mostly local

+85%Monthly active usersActivity growth over the first 2 months

29,261Active users in OctoberAgainst 31,037 total downloads

5,624Downloads on day 1Launch day in September

Downloads and active users after launch

Total downloadsNew downloadsActive users

40k30k20k10k0

~~5,6245,6245,157~~

~~31,03725,40829,261~~

~~35,3374,33415,724~~

Launch day, SeptemberOctober, 31 daysFirst week of November

In October, 29,261 users were active against 31,037 total downloads: the people who downloaded at launch kept using the app as part of shopping at Nivy.

Summary

Three choices that set Nivy apart

No two shopping centres are the same. Nivy's goal was classic, but creative choices made it work in the way that best fits Nivy.

Omnichannel approach

Data and insights from the app strengthen Nivy's whole digital presence.

Self-reliant content

Nivy drives the app with its own content, instead of relying on what tenants post.

Tier-based loyalty

Levels gamify the experience, build a sense of community and make customers want to come back again and again.

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