Derek Cable, Head of Parking Experience & Valet at Scentre Group was awarded the 2024 Frank Lowy Fellowship Award. Derek was recognised for his innovative work on the introduction of ticketless parking at Westfield destinations across Australia and New Zealand. This included implementation of business intelligence platforms, and the establishment of a centralised national call centre for Westfield car park operations. SCN spoke with Derek about the Award and what this recognition means to him…
The Frank Lowy Fellowship Award is an industry initiative of the Shopping Centre Council of Australia (SCCA). The Award recognises emerging leaders whom have demonstrated innovation and distinction in their professional field and made a significant contribution to the shopping centre industry.
What do you enjoy most about your role as Head of Parking Experience & Valet at Scentre Group?
It has to be the people I work with every day at Scentre Group.
I have an amazing team around me, many of whom have been with the team for more than a decade. We have worked hard together to develop a culture of continuous improvement, and this award is recognition of the efforts of a dedicated team, over a long period of time.
Can you tell us more about the project or initiative that led to your Frank Lowy Fellowship Award recognition?
The introduction of the ticketless parking experience at Westfield is a culmination of initiatives that have been ongoing for several years. These initiatives include the connection and implementation of business intelligence platforms, the establishment of a centralised operations centre for Westfield car parks and evolving our ticketless parking solutions through the use of video analytics and machine learning technology.
I feel very humbled to be recognised as the 2024 Frank Lowy Fellowship Award recipient alongside some incredible nominees both from Scentre Group and across the industry.
Why was this initiative so important to the Westfield parking experience?
We have a strategy to create the places and experiences, more people choose to come to, more often and for longer. To do that, we obsess over the customer experience and what are some of the barriers to visit.
Parking is critical to the customer experience and can have a direct impact on customer visitation and their experience when visiting our Westfield centres. Through the business intelligence platform and feedback received via the call centre, we were able to understand and then start to address key issues impacting the customer experience. It also led us to start trialling video analytics technology so we could better maximise the accuracy of our systems. This included metrics specificto what portion of customers required assistance in our car parks.
By utilising the rich data and by evolving our technology, we were able to confront issues and reduce friction for customers. This has improved the parking experience across hundreds of thousands of customer visits.
The recipient of the Frank Lowy Fellowship Award receives a grant of $20,000 to put towards professional development. How will this contribute to your own learning and growth?
While I’m confident Australia is at the forefront of innovation in the parking space, I’m interested in going overseas to see how other markets are using different tools and integrations to supplement the parking experience. I’m also interested in understanding global best practice when it comes to Valet and assessing opportunities for our Westfield Valet experience.
What do you believe are some opportunities for our sector when it comes to enhancing the parking experience within shopping centres?
First, it’s about deepening knowledge of the customer journey. You don’t need to spend millions of dollars on a cutting-edge technology to improve the customer experience. I think most would be surprised how much can be achieved by focusing (obsessing) over the customer journey.
When was the last time you walked in (or drove in) your customers’ shoes? What’s the signage journey like in and around your centre? How easy is it to find the fresh food precinct? Where are the Mobility and Parents with Pram bays? Once I’ve parked, how easy it is to navigate to the centre entry? Is there a safe path of travel? Think about embedding these reviews in your asset. Bringing someone in from outside to assist often brings about a fresh perspective.
Data and being effective in the way you leverage data, is another important opportunity. Most parking systems (Access Control and Parking Guidance) offer a wealth of customer data and insights. Visitation trends, dwell time, occupancy and customer interactions all give operators valuable insights on how to optimise their asset. It’s important to think about what metrics are key for your centre.
To steal a great quote: ‘what gets measured gets managed’.
This exclusive interview with Derek Cable is featured in the latest edition of SCN magazine.
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