Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield shopping centres are constantly transforming to create unique customer experiences for visitors. Throughout all of the Group’s regions, many initiatives are led to innovate and make destinations always more attractive, fun and innovative. As a response to the past challenging year, shopping centres have been even more creative and innovative to make destinations welcoming, entertaining and Covid-friendly. Whether it be through art, events, games, digital or in-situ initiatives: shopping destinations are reinventing how we entertain!

For some time now, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield has been studying new ways of bringing additional value to young independent brands in order to give them the opportunity to boost their visibility and grow their audience. For instance, shopping centres have welcomed innovative retail formats such as concept stores gathering several brands or plug-and-play formats for pop-up stores to be aligned with these brands’ need of flexibility and financial accessibility. In 2020, in the middle of the pandemic, the Group regions sought ways of supporting retailers and especially young brands by putting the spotlight on them. This led to the launch of two pop-up store concepts that helped boost retailers sales and visibility in Slovakia and in the U.K.

The Westfield London Nature Reserve won the “Employee Favourite” prize of the 2021 Innovation Awards organised internally. We wanted to highlight this initiative launched in October 2020 as an innovative biodiverse space dedicated to showcasing diverse farming methods, raising awareness on the importance and benefits of nature, and collaborating with local partners and communities.

Building on the successful launch of the Innovation Awards last year, the 2021 edition of the group-wide award contest was adapted to acknowledge the commitment, agility and resilience of URW teams facing the Covid-19 pandemic in the past year.

For this third edition of the URWxHEC Paris Hackathon, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield welcomed – virtually this year – 32 students who worked in teams on their projects through videoconference. The 2-day event titled “Smart Retail & Ecological Crisis: 2000sqm to save the world!” was an amazing way for the Digital, Entrepreneurship and SASI majors to showcase their ideas on disrupting the retail industry.

On the occasion of the International Day of People with Disabilities - initiated by the United Nations in 1992 - on December 3rd, we look back on the initiatives implemented by the Group to improve the customer experience of visitors with disabilities.

Amidst global pandemic, and faced with the unprecedented challenges of lockdown and self-distancing, we all have had to collectively adapt and organise around new needs. At Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, our primary focus has been to make life easier for our visitors and support our retailers through tailored, free services.

Consumers and companies are increasingly conscious about environmental issues and the necessity to act accordingly. What are the implications of such a deep change in consumption habits? What are consumers’ expectations? How is retail shifting towards more sustainability?

In 2018, the total funding in Proptech start-ups1 is estimated to have reached $18Bn globally (vs $3Bn in 2014) according to Deloitte2, and in the first half of 2019, $12.9Bn investments in Proptechs were recorded according to the Wall Street journal3: the Proptech market is very promising in terms of growth and investment. And it has been gaining diversity in the actors involved for the past few years: today, more and more real estate corporates are collaborating with Proptech actors as they see many opportunities emerge. Where does Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield stand with respect to Proptech? What projects have been led so far? What can we expect in the coming years?

As digitalisation becomes more and more central within Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield’s strategy, every single aspect of its activity is evolving, especially asset management. And the data provided thanks to digitalisation offer vast opportunities. We sat down with Dominique Barthoux, leader of the “Smart Asset” project for Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, to understand how the Group has turned it into action, especially through a successful concrete case: the collaboration with Deepki, a tool that helps monitor energy consumption of the French shopping centres.

On Tuesday 15th September, URW Lab was part of the jury for the finals of the PropTech Startup and Scaleup Europe Awards 2020 for which three projects out of 10 finalists were awarded.

From September 2 to October 31, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield hosts the French Red Cross solidarity initiative of “Reverse Shop” (“Boutique Inversée") in 9 of its French shopping centers for a new clothing collection experience.

For the second year in a row, the Group has reached the final phase and this year, the Group has been nominated with the start-up Troov, the platform that matches lost and found objects, in the “Group x Startup Most Unexpected Collaboration” category.

If you follow retail news, it's very likely that you heard about DNVBs. An acronym which seems to be a synonym of success stories, popping everywhere: Dollar Shave Club – selling shave and grooming products, founded in 2011 – was acquired by Unilever for $1Bn in 2016 ; Glossier – a beauty and make-up brand created in 2014 – raised an additional $100M in 2019 and was valued $1.2Bn, thus entering the exclusive club of unicorns. Why have DNVBs become such a big deal? What are they exactly? Is this business opportunity as promising, viable and profitable as people think?

Urban farming is emerging as a solution to sustainability issues and space constraint in dense urban areas. For a few years now, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield has been launching urban farming projects and scaled them up in different assets. How is the urban farming market evolving and what are the opportunities for Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield? How can the Group go further and imagine even more ambitious projects in the future?

This year, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield decided to highlight innovation-related projects led by teams from all regions with the first edition of the Innovation Awards. The 2020 Innovation Awards aimed at rewarding last year’s top innovation projects. This groupwide initiative involved participants from all regions, ie. the U.S., the U.K., Austria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Spain and Sweden.s 2020 visaient à récompenser les meilleurs projets d'innovation de l'année passée. Cette initiative à l'échelle du Groupe a impliqué des participants de toutes les régions, les États-Unis, le Royaume-Uni, l'Autriche, la République tchèque, la France, l'Allemagne, la Pologne, la Slovaquie, l'Espagne et la Suède.

For the first time in 2019-2020, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield has been partner of the national competition Science Factor for its 8th edition. Its goal? To involve young people – high school and middle school students – in creative and innovative projects to reinvent the shopping centres of tomorrow.

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield Germany enters into strategic cooperation with Zalando – and offers stationary retailers the chance to connect to the omnichannel platform with immediate effect in order to cope with the COVID-19 crisis.

In response to the COVID-19 crisis, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield has spontaneously engaged across the world in a great number of activities to support the communities in which it operates. We have decided to dedicate our resources, assets and connections to serve the communities in the most efficient and helpful ways during these unique times.

On January 14, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield unveiled ‘Westfield How We Shop: The Next Decade’, its biggest retail trends report to date, which predicts 2025 will be the experience tipping point in retail, when more than half of retail space in stores will be dedicated to providing experiences.

As a reflection of the changing nature of the retail industry and the consumer shopping experience, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield aims to be the first point of contact for digital-only brands that wish to engage with consumers through one-of-a-kind in-store experiences. The Group offers the brands of tomorrow the best platform to scale their businesses across the US and Europe through flexible spaces and dynamic retail experiences.

After hosting first digital donation terminals in Westfield London in 2019, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield is currently expanding the implementation of donation walls in its European shopping centres in Germany, Spain, Austria and the Netherlands. An innovative way of leveraging usable spaces to create positive impact in favour of charities.After hosting first digital donation terminals in Westfield London in 2019, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield is currently expanding the implementation of donation walls in its European shopping centres in Germany, Spain, Austria and the Netherlands. An innovative way of leveraging usable spaces to create positive impact in favour of charities.

Spurred by the successful deployment of Too Good To Go in 19 French shopping centres and more than 126,000 meals saved in 2019, the Group decided to roll out the solution gradually in 7 other European countries in 2020, with the ambitious goal of saving 220,000 meals this year!

Since January 8th, Stuart, the last mile delivery start-up, now a subsidiary of Groupe La Poste, has been partnering with Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield to test its service in Westfield Forum des Halles in order to offer visitors an enriched and more fluid shopping experience.

Last week, the first edition of the Gran Premio Retail, the Spanish version of the Grand Prix Commerce Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, came to an end with its final ceremony rewarding three start-ups that will have the opportunity to open a store in one of the Group’s shopping centres in Spain: Fittest Freakest, Wai Wai and Button Watch.

This year, once again, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield organised and welcomed a second edition of the URW Hackathon with HEC students in the Entrepreneur and SASI Masters. The theme of this year’s hackathon: reinventing retail destinations attracting millions of consumers.

A special selection of direct to consumer and digitally native vertical brands are moving from clicks to bricks this holiday season with the opening of “The Market at Westfield”, a curated mix of giftable, high calibre products; world-class entertainment; and an immersive environment—all embedded in a retail experience with digital touchpoints.

Troov, the start-up that helps visitors find their lost belongings, is being deployed throughout 16 of the French shopping centres of the Group after a successful POC at Westfield Les 4 Temps and CNIT.

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield has been working for almost a year with blisce/ to review and invest in the most promising direct-to-consumer startups in media and retail, that change the way people consume. In partnership with blisce/, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield hosted a discussion to dive deeper into innovation in retail, how technology is changing consumption habits and the future of consumption, as well as purposeful leadership.

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, like other groups, is very involved in the development and support of start-ups, thanks to an ecosystem of Venture Capital (VC). How is this collaboration with VC funds organised within the Group?

This week, on November 12, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield took part in the Purple Tuesday initiative to reaffirm its commitment to promote accessibility and support the inclusion of disabled people in our shopping centres.

On October 15th, The Carrousel du Louvre opened a brand new pop-up store, Pyramid., that showcases French DNVBs. Pyramid., realised by Label Experience and operated by Digital Native Group, is the result of a rethinking on the actors and the formats for physical retail by Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield teams that has proven to be a successful collaboration between start-ups and the Group.

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield is accelerating on the topic of entertainment: on July 25, the Group and The VOID announced a partnership to bring over 25 permanent immersive virtual reality destinations to the Group’s shopping centres in the United States and in Europe.

This year, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield is testing a new environmentally-friendly cement for the Ateliers Gaîté, created by the French company Hoffmann Green. This cement’s production will cut the carbon emissions by 7. 

This year, four bold innovative retail concepts, SmÄak Natural Food, CAVAL, la Fédération Française de l’Apéritif and Waekura, were rewarded during the annual Grand Finale ceremony of the Grand Prix Commerce Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield.

Thanks to the start-up The Keepers, visitors can leave their motorcycle helmets or mobile phones in safe lockers in 11 of the Group’s shopping centres to enjoy a more convenient and comfortable moment in our centres.

In April, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield’s collaboration with the anti-waste start-up Phenix – which was part of the third acceleration season at URW Link in 2017 – reached a new milestone: it is now responsible for the management and revaluation of the waste at the French shopping centre Rosny 2.

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield won “Most Efficient Collaboration” last Thursday at the 2019 Village Awards by CA, for its partnership with Too Good To Go, the app that fights food waste.

One year after the acquisition of Westfield and 7 years after the launch of URW Lab, we wanted to share a view into our innovation priorities through this video. Why, what and how? Let’s recap together in this article!

This year, VivaTech was again the palce to be for innovation makers: with over 124,000 visitors, 13,000 start-ups and 3,300 investors present, prestigious speakers such as Jack Ma or Emmanuel Macron and renowned guests such as Usain Bolt, the event attracts more business actors and brings more opportunities every year.

Only eight concepts are left to compete in the 2019 Grand Prix Commerce Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, which fosters innovation in retail.

In April, for 10 days, Vélizy 2 offered the French Red Cross a space where they could set up an innovative popup store to collect clothes in order to help people in need. At the end of this operation, the Red Cross had collected more than 6 tons of textile.

VivaTech is the world’s rendezvous for startups and leaders to celebrate innovation and technology., For the fourth consecutive year, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield will be there from May 16 to 18!

On March 20th, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield opened a new chapter for the iconic shopping centre west of Paris, Vélizy 2, with the unveiling of its new Dining Experience, which includes the first omnichannel platform for food delivery in a shopping centre in Europe, a project led by URW Lab.

Since January 18th, visitors of the 4 Temps and CNIT shopping centres who have lost an item while shopping have been able to use the application TROOV, a very innovative, totally digital, user-friendly and secure solution.

The 13th edition of the Grand Prix Commerce* Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield started on March, 12th: retail entrepreneurs have until April 13th to apply! Last September, Freddy’s BBQ, Mersea, BMK Paris-Bamako and Les Raffineurs were the winners, who will win in 2019?

In 2015, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (then Unibail-Rodamco) initiated an international internal talent program dedicated to innovation: the Innovation Champion Graduate Program. Four years later, what are the results of this program?

Across all its European destinations, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield has partnered with digital start-ups and solutions that contribute to enhancing customer experience and ensuring a seamless journey in the shopping centres.

Connect is an application initially co-developed by the start-up Mallcomm and Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield for our shopping destinations to enable shopping centre teams, retailers and providers to interact and share information. Since the launch of a pilot in January 2017 in Barcelona, it has been scaled up rapidly to reach 56 shopping centres of the Group so far.

Ten days ago, the annual Hackathon organised by Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield took place with HEC Paris and E-ArtSup students to develop projects on “smart cities” and “mixed-use projects”.

Welcoming over 1.2 billion visitors a year throughout our shopping destinations, transportation and accessibility are strategic topics for Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield. To meet ambitious targets such as reducing by 50% our carbon emissions by 2030, URW Lab, the Group’s innovation centre, aims at identifying new mobility solutions and services with smarter and greener alternatives.

Following the third edition of the event "David avec Goliath" organized by RAISE and Bain & Company, let’s have a look at how URW Link collaborates with start-ups.

In June 2018, the urban farm “Farmhouse” opened on the roof of the shopping centre So Ouest, in Levallois-Perret. Behind this project: the start-up Sous Les Fraises, in partnership with URW Link, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield’s open innovation platform. Discover this green and innovative initiative!

In September and October, two innovative training programs were launched in Polygone Riviera and in Euralille. The SKOLA program is part of Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield’s “UR for Jobs” program. Led in partnership with Apprentis d’Auteuil and other private and public actors, SKOLA has offered a 2-month sales training to 32 young unemployed people.

Visibilishop, the startup that aggregates customer reviews given to restaurants and retailers on the Internet, and URW Link have continued their collaboration with the launch of the solution in all French shopping centres in June 2018.

URW Link, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield’s open innovation platform, is delighted to announce the deployment of Too Good To Go solution in France after a successful POC of 4 months

Since October 1st, Mutum, a platform of cost-free borrowing & lending of objects, and URW Link have joined forces to implement a new service in Les Quatre Temps shopping centre.

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield has partnered with the startup Neatyy to offer customers of Parly 2 and Rosny 2 the opportunity to book Personal Shoppers from a wide range of fashion experts available, for all needs, budget and style.

UR Link and Too Good to Go, the app fighting food wastage, partner together to save food from Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield’s shopping centres.

Relive the highlights of Unibail-Rodamco's presence at VivaTech!

On 24, 25 and 26th May, Viva Technology will be back in Paris and Unibail-Rodamco, through its lab for innovation UR Lab, will be present one more time.

For the first time in Europe, a shopping centre operator, Unibail-Rodamco, Europe's leading listed commercial property company, partners with BlaBlaLines, the short-distance car sharing app of BlaBlaCar, for its visitors’ shopping trips.

During two days, on 5-6 April 2018, Unibail-Rodamco's Innovation Champions discovered Berlin start-up and innovation ecosystem.

Unibail-Rodamco partnered with Niantic to offer Pokémon fans an innovative experience around Pokémon GO within its centres.

Dress in the City, an UR Link Season 1 start-up, expands to new centres in French regions, pleasing more customers thanks to a circular consumption model.

A new gateway to enter the UR Link program! Unibail-Rodamco, five other corporations (Citeo, E.Leclerc, GRDF, La Poste Group, Veolia) and Paris & Co invite startups to integrate the new Circular Economy 2018 promotion

Unibail-Rodamco joins forces with Paris&Co to support innovation and collaboration with start-ups on circular economy topics

Better Places 2030: Corporate Social Responsibility at the heart of Unibail-Rodamco’s strategy

After a 4-month POC, Unibail-Rodamco has made the decision to deploy Merito, a UR Link Season 2 startup, in all its Île-de-France centres.

The third season of UR Link, the startup accelerator of Unibail-Rodamco, has come to an end. Review of the main achievements during this 4-month programme.

Jam, a chatbot accelerated during UR Link Season 3, implemented its POC (Proof of Concept) at the Forum des Halles to create new shopping experiences.

After 3 seasons, UR Link was rewarded by renowned institutions in the startup ecosystem, a proof of the success of UR’s Open Innovation strategy.

Learn more about the UR Link POC of PHENIX, a startup fighting against food waste by gathering waste from major retailers.

Meet Marjolaine Grondin, CEO @ Jam, the chatbot dedicated to millennials & accelerated at UR Link, and her UR mentor, Caroline Auvieux.

ArtNight, a UR Link Germany Season 1 startup, organises creative and artistic events in Unibail-Rodamco shopping centres. Meet its founder, David.

The Mixer received the student entrepreneurs from the Paris-Dauphine University accompanied by the D-Start programme for their Demo-Day.

ArtNight, a UR Link Germany Season 1 startup, organises creative and artistic events in Unibail-Rodamco shopping centres. Meet its founder, David.

At the Vivatech 2017 forum, Ludovic Flandin explained how Unibail-Rodamco sees the future of shopping centres: a platform at the heart of urban life.

Meet Green City Solutions, one of the startups currently accelerated for UR Link Germany Season 1, and its City Tree concept which improves air quality.

Sous les Fraises and Unibail-Rodamco just opened the 7Garden, an innovative urban farm on the roof of the Group’s HQs in Paris.

Unibail-Rodamco just revealed the 5 startups the Group will work with during the 3rd season of the UR Link startup accelerator to build the future of retail.

The Past of Retail has a lot to teach us about how we can improve the Shopping Experience in today’s malls and build better places for tomorrow.

Meet the 10 finalists of UR Link Season 3. The applicants are running for one of the 5 slots of Unibail-Rodamco’s acceleration programme.

French TV Channel BFM Business aired an interview of Ludovic Flandin on Unibail-Rodamco’s open innovation strategy and the future of shopping centres.

Ludovic Flandin was invited to speak about Unibail-Rodamco’s Open Innovation strategy at the ICSC European Conference in Warsaw.

The 11th edition of the Grand Prize for the Young Retail Entrepreneurs is about to start and will aim at putting the spotlights on innovative retail concepts.

Real Estate Tech startups are disrupting the property sector, and a growing community of tech solutions are beginning to modernise it in France and abroad.

French TV Channel France 2 aired a report on UR Link business accelerator on ‘TéléMatin’, presenting the open innovation programme of Unibail-Rodamco.

Applications for the 3rd season of UR Link startup accelerator are open until April 30th. 5 startups will be selected for the programme organised by Unibail-Rodamco.

Unibail-Rodamco launches its business accelerator programme UR Link in Germany to accompany 3 startups inventing tomorrow’s shopping centres.

Unibail-Rodamco was a pioneer in terms of innovation. Today, other real estate companies followed the lead: here is an overview of the initiatives of their labs.

Unibail-Rodamco makes desks and meeting rooms available for rent in its coworking space, the Mixer, via the Bureaux à Partager website.

Unibail-Rodamco signed the “Manifesto to decarbonize Europe” alongside 80 other CEOs and confirms its commitment to reduce its carbon footprint.

Unibail-Rodamco committed to help young people find jobs in its shopping centres or skills training by implementing the UR for Jobs programme, aiming at addressing the youth unemployment issue in Europe.

Unibail-Rodamco was the first large real estate company to build an innovation lab: UR Lab. Overview of the group’s innovation strategy.

The second season of UR Link, the startup accelerator of Unibail-Rodamco, has come to an end. Review of the main achievements during this 4-month programme.

In partnership with Engie, Unibail-Rodamco will host the Diya One robot for 5 months in the Mixer, in its Parisian headquarters.

Tediber, first French online brand of mattresses, laureate of the 2016 Grand Prize for Young Retail Entrepreneurs, is to feature its products in UR malls.

Unibail-Rodamco joins the “Objective 100 Hectares” charter along with the City of Paris and will contribute to develop urban farming and plant-covered buildings in Paris.

Meet Didier Gasté, CEO and Founder of Transaction Connect, the multi-brand loyalty programme for shopping centres which converts debit cards into loyalty cards.

Unibail-Rodamco announced its commitment in the Democles project to enhance its demolition waste management and recycling, as part of a circular economy strategy.

Meet Guillaume Tassetto, CEO and Founder of Kairos Fire, a UR Link-accelerated startup, using beacon technology to provide useful insights to retailers and shopping centres.

Unibail-Rodamco has just inaugurated an outstanding digital installation at CentrO, Düsseldorf, offering an immersive experience to guests and a promotion and creation space for brands.

Focus on the 5 major challenges faced by retail and shaping the future of shopping and of shopping centres.

Unibail-Rodamco set about rethinking the workspace of tomorrow, adapting it to agile and innovative enterprises by introducing more flexibility, connectivity and ecology.

As part of Unibail-Rodamco’s CSR strategy Better Places 2030, the group signed an agreement with Mango to reduce the carbon footprint of shopping centres by implementing LEDs.

In 2017, Unibail-Rodamco plans to develop UR Link, its startup accelerator, in other european countries.

During Winter Sales, some of Unibail’s shopping centres offer guests to calculate their body measurements with a cutting-edge service: the Size Machine.

Accelerated at UR Link, the startup Dress in the City is scaling its service in some of the group’s shopping centres.

Meet Spoon, the UR Link-accelerated robot with a personality and emotions, in one of Unibail-Rodamco’s shopping centres.

Unibail-Rodamco’s open innovation strategy is starting to pay-off after the group learned from its past mistakes and developed innovative programmes.

Open Innovation has taken a centrage stage in large groups. How to stay ahead of the curve?

Unibail-Rodamco is innovating at pace as the group collaborates more closely with startups to build tomorrow’s shopping centres.

Unibail-Rodamco appointed Ludovic Flandin as Managing Director CSR and URLab. He will lead the implementation of “Better Places 2030”, the group’s new CSR strategy.

Merito is a matching platform between shops managers and salesmen looking for a job opportunity. UR-Link, Unibail-Rodamco’s corporate accelerator accompanies this young company.

Applications for our partner Tremplin, incubator for sports entrepreneur

Carlo Ratti & UR Lab present the first workout-powered gym boat in Paris

Unibail-Rodamco launches the second season of its startup accelerator UR Link.

My Pop Corner, a startup from UR Link Season 1, just opened its first “Box Corner” in Villeneuve 2 shopping center, in the North of France.

The Vogue Fashion Festival will take place on November 4th and 5th at Potocki Palace in Paris. It is aimed at professionals working in the fashion industry and fashion aficionados alike.

Near 130 applications. 32 preselected startups. 20 hours of pitches and intense debates. I present the semifinals of UR Link Season 2 which took place during 2 days at the Mixer, the new innovation center located at headquarters. Let's discover the 10 startups which got through to the final.

900sqm for innovation, The Mixer will mix internal teams of Digital Marketing and UR Lab with UR Link startups and Unibail Rodamco partners. It will also provide employees of the company in mobility the opportunity to have an office space, and give access to all to new creative and collaborative workspaces.

Each year, Unibail-Rodamco rewards the most innovative retail brands. An initiative which celebrated its 10th edition with a selection of three concepts: Lunettes pour Tous, Tediber and Déclics & des Trucs that were rewarded on September 22th.

After a 4-month acceleration with UR Link, Dress in the City hosts its 3rd second-hand sales event at the mall Les 4 Temps from September 29th to October 5th.

After the success of the first season, Unibail-Rodamco and NUMA launch the second season of UR Link, the accelerator dedicated to the transformation of shopping centers. On the agenda: how to make shopping centers more sustainable and alive? Startups have until September 24 to apply for this second edition.