And these companies are not the only ones looking to increase the face time with their current customer base. During the next year, GGP will roll out an increasingly robust site that will include a Web site for every store in its malls. The wireless component is a key part of the initiative, Graves said. Because of the way malls are built with concrete and steel, you cannot get a wireless signal in our properties. With microcells, I can program the messaging in my world, specific to my mall.
Graves also sees the benefits of mobile commerce.
We have shoppers coming to a mall 50 times a year, and I don't even know their names. By 2004 there will be 1 billion cell phones worldwide, according to IDC, and half of them will be Internet-enabled. In the travel world, Rosemont, Ill.-based Galileo, one of the four major reservation system companies, will be rolling out its mobile service to corporate travel departments and travel agents later this year. Users will be able to make and change flights reservation using their cell phones and book rental cars and hotel rooms. One industry analyst believes corporate agents will jump on the service as a way to keep track of changes made by its employees.