The New Way to Attract Sales, “Experiential” Retail

by Joe Killinger
CEO, theRRD.com

The traditional retail stores are quickly adapting to the current trend in retail by closing underperforming stores and downsizing other locations and moving as quickly as possible to enhance their online presence. Amazon has received much of the credit for moving retail online and I am sure it should get some of the credit but the bottom line is that’s where the buyers are and the desire for online is growing quickly.

The current retail development is seeing malls that are designed more for a shopping experience “experiential” which means you will be seeing more shops geared toward more of being a showroom but most products can be purchased online. The old style concept of the anchor stores will be replaced with destination offerings i.e.,: local or regional shops that give a unique shopping experience, higher end food courts, event spaces and a focus on aesthetics while shopping.

We are seeing enclosed malls being redeveloped to meet the new standards that people are expecting for their shopping experience. For example, Westfield Century City is currently undergoing a complete overhaul. When it is complete, it will have 400,000 square feet of additional retail space and 4,700 parking spaces. Many of the larger REITs that specialize in mall investments are disposing of the smaller underperforming assets and having a focus on redoing their best performers. The future of shopping is looking fun and exciting!

Image: Daniel Hoherd - Creative Commons License

Tags: malls, retail, shopping,

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