Panos Linardos, chairman of Retail Leaders Circle.
The Covid-19 pandemic is anything but novel; pandemics are recurrent historical phenomena of considerable impact on the evolution of human society. Nonetheless, it is a crisis of historic proportions reshaping the retail landscape and changing the bricks and mortar store experience.
Mall operators and retailers have been hit particularly hard by the pullback in store visits and spending. Given malls’ strong concentration of retailers selling discretionary goods, it is not surprising that they are facing particularly strong headwinds.
Realising that landlords and tenants need to work together to make retail operations more effective when the pandemic is over has now become the top priority. They need to rethink their business relationships, reflect that in differentiated contract terms and evolve to new sustainable economic models.
And on top of that, they both need to become adept at predicting and sharing customer appetites and behaviours on a frequent basis.
During the pandemic, online shopping surged, though not enough to erase the damage done by store closings and economic worries, which caused people to pause spending on nonessential goods. A new group of consumers, those slower to adopt with new technologies, have been forced to cross the barrier due to lockdown restrictions.
To keep pace with changes, the big question is not how long the online surge will last, but how digital can become an enabler for mall operators to keep up with customers’ ever changing needs and preferences. Given the explosion of omni-channel commerce, malls can no longer stand on the sidelines if they hope to remain relevant. Digital must be at the centre of the mall’s value proposition, both to customers and tenants.
But technology can never replace the casual fun of strolling around, in and out of stores, grabbing a bite to eat, and spending time with friends. As food and grocery related stores are emerging as the new anchor that will enhance shopping centres footfall, becoming a multi-purpose destination opens an interesting opportunity for the malls.
Covid-19 forced consumers to change their buying behaviours, and malls need to shift from being transactional commerce centres into experience centres and ecosystems by once again elevating the sense of lifestyle experience and safety at the same time.
It is essential that malls find new ways to meet their customers’ appetites and serve them in ways they choose to build their loyalty in the long run. To do this successfully property owners and tenants need to be the ones shaping their hybrid future together.
They need to take a step back and reflect upon questions around building differentiated, engaging and personalized shopping experiences, merging physical and digital and securing their lasting partnerships for the future.
While landlords and retailers may feel a sense of urgency to get their business back to normal as soon as possible, there are guidelines and practices that should be followed to allow for a safe, stable return.
The key to getting people back into malls will be for mall operators and retailers to work together to invest in employee and customer safety, carefully balancing their desire for social interaction with a safe, convenient shopping experiences. They need to rethink and carefully redesign their assets and the entire customer journey to address shoppers’ concerns now and in the future.
The shopping mall as we know it will probably change forever as the pandemic has accelerated and intensified trends and changes that were already underway. Mall operators are facing the hard reality even when traffic returns.
Along with the accelerated pace of change, however, comes a unique opportunity for mall operators to unlock big strategic moves and reposition themselves in the future.
Will they build on this unique moment to rethink their role, investments and economic model to make systematic and strategic change work to their advantage?
Panos Linardos, chairman of Retail Leaders Circle.
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by Staff Writer
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The future of malls post coronavirus: Transform to thrive
Malls can no longer stand on the side lines if they hope to remain relevant, and they must evolve to meet the demands of the post-pandemic consumer
Panos Linardos, chairman of Retail Leaders Circle.
The Covid-19 pandemic is anything but novel; pandemics are recurrent historical phenomena of considerable impact on the evolution of human society. Nonetheless, it is a crisis of historic proportions reshaping the retail landscape and changing the bricks and mortar store experience.
Mall operators and retailers have been hit particularly hard by the pullback in store visits and spending. Given malls’ strong concentration of retailers selling discretionary goods, it is not surprising that they are facing particularly strong headwinds.
Realising that landlords and tenants need to work together to make retail operations more effective when the pandemic is over has now become the top priority. They need to rethink their business relationships, reflect that in differentiated contract terms and evolve to new sustainable economic models.
And on top of that, they both need to become adept at predicting and sharing customer appetites and behaviours on a frequent basis.
During the pandemic, online shopping surged, though not enough to erase the damage done by store closings and economic worries, which caused people to pause spending on nonessential goods. A new group of consumers, those slower to adopt with new technologies, have been forced to cross the barrier due to lockdown restrictions.
To keep pace with changes, the big question is not how long the online surge will last, but how digital can become an enabler for mall operators to keep up with customers’ ever changing needs and preferences. Given the explosion of omni-channel commerce, malls can no longer stand on the sidelines if they hope to remain relevant. Digital must be at the centre of the mall’s value proposition, both to customers and tenants.
But technology can never replace the casual fun of strolling around, in and out of stores, grabbing a bite to eat, and spending time with friends. As food and grocery related stores are emerging as the new anchor that will enhance shopping centres footfall, becoming a multi-purpose destination opens an interesting opportunity for the malls.
Covid-19 forced consumers to change their buying behaviours, and malls need to shift from being transactional commerce centres into experience centres and ecosystems by once again elevating the sense of lifestyle experience and safety at the same time.
It is essential that malls find new ways to meet their customers’ appetites and serve them in ways they choose to build their loyalty in the long run. To do this successfully property owners and tenants need to be the ones shaping their hybrid future together.
They need to take a step back and reflect upon questions around building differentiated, engaging and personalized shopping experiences, merging physical and digital and securing their lasting partnerships for the future.
While landlords and retailers may feel a sense of urgency to get their business back to normal as soon as possible, there are guidelines and practices that should be followed to allow for a safe, stable return.
The key to getting people back into malls will be for mall operators and retailers to work together to invest in employee and customer safety, carefully balancing their desire for social interaction with a safe, convenient shopping experiences. They need to rethink and carefully redesign their assets and the entire customer journey to address shoppers’ concerns now and in the future.
The shopping mall as we know it will probably change forever as the pandemic has accelerated and intensified trends and changes that were already underway. Mall operators are facing the hard reality even when traffic returns.
Along with the accelerated pace of change, however, comes a unique opportunity for mall operators to unlock big strategic moves and reposition themselves in the future.
Will they build on this unique moment to rethink their role, investments and economic model to make systematic and strategic change work to their advantage?
Panos Linardos, chairman of Retail Leaders Circle.
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