How the Ritual App is Bringing New Life to Offices, Malls, and Commercial Spaces: A Tool for Urban Renewal

The COVID-19 pandemic has left an indelible mark on how commercial real estate is utilized in urban areas. With the advent of economy-wide work from home (WFH) policies, a mass exodus has taken place where many have permanently left cities for suburban or rural areas. 
by
Jelena Leung
April 6, 2022

This is especially true for cities of one million residents or more, which have seen the sharpest out-migration levels in generations. As a result, maintaining building occupancy has become a challenge for some commercial property owners in major cities across North America. 

The good news is that there are solutions available to incentivize building occupancy and foster thriving hybrid workplaces with improved foot traffic. One such solution is Ritual, a social food ordering app helping companies around the world welcome employees back into the office.

As a commercial developer or building owner, you can harness the potential of Ritual - and, more specifically, the Ritual for Companies platform - to revitalize your commercial spaces. In this article, we’ll show you how.

Ritual for Companies: Your Next Downtown Revitalization Initiative

Ritual for Companies allows business owners to offer location-based food credits to participating local restaurants and cafes. In a labor market where many have only just gotten used to the full-time WFH model, Ritual for Companies helps ease the transition to an office-based or hybrid workplace by offering fun, fresh, and delicious employee incentives. 

The benefit for commercial real estate owners is that Ritual for Companies can be utilized by your tenants as part of their back-to-work incentive package. Not only will this help encourage the shift back to in-person work, but can also spur urban renewal in areas that have been disproportionately impacted by worker out-migration. 

How Does Ritual for Companies Work?

Geolocation technology allows Ritual for Companies to offer location-based food rewards to employees. Not only does this improve employee engagement, but also has downstream benefits for the entire retail community. At a time when retail outlets are facing unprecedented systemic challenges, Ritual for Companies helps lift some of the burdens these difficulties place on commercial property owners.

Below, we’ve created a simplified outline of how Ritual for Companies works:

  • XYZ Consulting Inc., with 200 employees, becomes a Ritual for Companies partner
  • There are 12 participating cafes and restaurants within 750m of their office
  • XYZ Consulting Inc. sets its daily meal credit value to $20
  • XYZ Consulting Inc. sets its rewards radius to 750m, thereby giving each of its 200 employees $20 in daily credits to be redeemed at any of the 12 participating merchants within their determined radius
  • XYZ Consulting Inc. sets its meal credits to expire the following day if unused
  • All 200 employees are therefore given an incentive to come into the office, eat together, increase foot traffic in the local commercial area

You can think of Ritual for Companies as a tool for in-person team bonding, employee incentivization, and a downtown revitalization initiative. As employees return to their offices, local restaurants will be rewarded with increased business, and areas hard hit by the pandemic will be regenerated with new economic activity and social circulation.

Ritual for Companies: Where Privacy is Top of Mind

Despite the fact that Ritual uses geolocation technology to offer location-based rewards, this is done without the need for tracking the end user's location. Instead, credits are offered regardless of one's geolocation, only that they can be redeemed at restaurants that fall within a predetermined proximity of the user's office. 

Ritual treats all users’ data privacy with the utmost respect. As such, Ritual does not utilize real-time location-based data. Both the iOS and Android versions of the Ritual app abide by the highest standards of data protection. Teams and individuals alike can therefore rest assured knowing that their sensitive location data isn’t tracked or recorded for commercial purposes. 

What Is Ritual?

Ritual is a mobile ordering app that allows users to skip the line and enjoy their favorite local foods, drinks, coffees, and treats while collecting points-based rewards. Orders are placed ahead of time from local participating eateries or cafes and are picked up once prepared. 

As one of Ritual’s core products, Ritual for Companies is designed for employers and team leaders to provide meal rewards to their employees. Whereas the Ritual app is accessible to anyone, the Ritual for Companies product caters specifically to office-based teams. Ritual for Companies not only offers a delicious incentive for in-person work but also allows for social bonding among team members and rewards one's local restaurant scene in the process. 

Why Not Try Ritual Today?

Ritual for Companies is one of the leading solutions at the forefront of the return-to-office transition. For commercial property owners, Ritual for Companies can help restore foot traffic to pre-pandemic levels, and bring new, vibrant life back to commercial areas that may have been left behind over the past couple of years. 

Going back to work in an office setting may present some challenges. Luckily, Ritual makes these challenges a little easier to surmount. More than that, Ritual for Companies spurs growth opportunities for commercial building developers and real estate owners who need circulation back in their part of the city.

The benefit is community revitalization. With Ritual, malls, offices, and commercial shopping areas can be renewed and brought back to their former stature. As employees are encouraged to step outside and enjoy local food, the entire retail community in the area benefits from their presence. 

So, why not try Ritual today? See what advantages are in store. 

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Jelena Leung
Jelena is the Senior Director of Marketing at Ritual. Her expertise in marketing strategy and execution has spurred the growth of the many businesses and teams that she has worked with. As a marketing leader with more than 14 years of experience, she has obtained valuable knowledge and insights about marketing in the restaurant industry. She occasionally writes about the topics of human resources, restaurant marketing, employee retention, team building, and more.
Jelena Leung
Jelena is the Senior Director of Marketing at Ritual. Her expertise in marketing strategy and execution has spurred the growth of the many businesses and teams that she has worked with. As a marketing leader with more than 14 years of experience, she has obtained valuable knowledge and insights about marketing in the restaurant industry. She occasionally writes about the topics of human resources, restaurant marketing, employee retention, team building, and more.