Advertisement
Search
Close this search box.

Opinion

PERSONAL COMMENTARIES OF PLACEMAKING EXPERTS

Bigger leaps are being taken to lift us out of this pandemic. We still have a long way to go, the path ahead will be rocky, and the load we must carry is heavy. However, not everyone should expect the party to begin once we make our way out of the darkness. The beat of the drum and the rhythm of the song have changed.

Retail has changed. Do you really understand how things currently work or how they will work in the future? Are you still waiting for everything to go back to “the way it used to be”?

The real estate business is not a sport but there are many similarities. Fair play, progress through training, new methodologies, competition, success (and failure), injuries and recovery, awards, fame etc.

“According to a study by Simon-Kucher & Partners, customers miss brick-and-mortar retail, with 90% of respondents indicating that they are looking forward to being able to visit local stores again once the lockdown has been lifted.”

The pandemic has turned the world’s economy and the retail landscape on its head. For the retail sector it has been a year like no other, but it is becoming clear that the health crisis has impacted the industry at different degrees. Although outlet centres are not immune to the pandemic’s toll, they have recovered at a much faster pace than other retail formats when restrictions were eased or lifted.

“Incorporating the latest trends and changes in shopping behavior in our managed outlets centers, they will be back stronger, driven by innovative glocal marketing.”

“Many operators can still look to outlet as a strong, robust proposition for trialing their products, clearing old stock, accessing high levels of footfall and testing multi-channel retailing in attractive locations.”

“The challenge in 2021 is to get back to business at a full speed, understanding that unemployment has gone up considerably in some countries, that the power spend of our customers might have suffered and that, disappointingly but not surprisingly, too many governments in this world do not seem to have control over the pandemic situation.”

“Retailers on average seem very happy that shopping centers are going down the path of fully serving them in the digital channels as they are doing in the physical space.”

How rethinking real estate can transform brick and mortar into real dynamic platforms which again play a strong role within the omnichannel life.

“High streets and shopping centers will need to focus less on filling space with stock, and more on reutilizing that space for wider social and cultural needs, as well as for showrooming, fulfilment, back-of-house functions, and last-mile delivery.”

“The ingenuity of the architects makes it necessary for the techniques involved in capturing data to be capable of handling very different configurations, with immense variability in their characteristics.”

“By messaging the store in advance via the app, shoppers can ask to view or try on specific items in their sizes and preferred colors, thus giving them exactly what they want without wasting any time.”

“In our survey, many of our visitors told us that they would like to continue to see features that minimize the spread of infections, such as touch-free shopping, and that will be at the forefront of our minds as we upgrade our centers and embark on new projects.”