What Will the Store of the Future Look Like?

With Internet retailers, websites, and smartphone apps that provide a shopping experience to consumers from practically anywhere, stores like Amazon.com are putting many retailers out of business.  So the question remains: in the new era of online shopping, how will the retail industry and brick-and-mortar stores not only survive – but also thrive?  

This is the question on the minds of real estate professionals across the nation, but good news is here.  According to new research by Deloitte, there is hope for the brick-and-mortar retail sector but it will only come if executives realize that the shopping experience will have to change somewhat from what it is today.  

Retailers will need to start thinking of their brick-and-mortar stores as places of brand promotion as much as places in which to conduct sales.  Additionally, they will need to provide shoppers with experiences that cannot be enjoyed with online shopping, such as the ability to see, feel, and experience a product first-hand – to test products and interact with them before buying.    

This sensory experience will need to be the focus of retailers, as they shift their focus from in-store sales to creating into a new way to do business.  It will be the advantage brick-and-mortar stores have over online retailers, and will bring the human element back into the shopping experience.  

Consumers want to know details about the product they are purchasing, and as online reviews become increasingly untrustworthy, shoppers will return to what they know works: trying the product in the store and talking with a knowledgeable sales staff who can answer all of their questions. 

Who should attend on the Retail Bus Tour?

Gary Broidis Explains The Retail Bus Tour.

Distress and the Retail Sector

According to Real Capital Analytics (RCA), a New York City-based research firm, the retail sector’s rates of distress resolution is slowly on the mend.  While the economy hasn’t experienced the upswing we were all hoping for, it has stabilized, and distressed retailers are doing the same.  With the number of retail stores’ distress figures falling lower than they have been since 2008, research think-tanks like RCA are giving retailers a positive note on which to begin the new year. 

While the number of retail properties entering distress has begun to show signs of slowing down, retailers have been able to focus their efforts on improving sales, streamlining their business, and resolving their financial distress.  This has meant downsizing and selling off retail space in certain sectors where business slowed, as well as slowing expansion into some markets. 

This is good news for anyone looking to buy a commercial retail property space.  As businesses work through their financial distress, downsizing and selling properties are a crucial step in that process.  This leaves the field wide open for new players in the retail industry looking to expand their presence in key areas of commerce. 

The economy certainly isn’t back where we’d all like it to be, but signs are pointing to a real estate market that has seen the worst of the downturn.  This is a great spot to build upon, to learn from the mistakes of the past, and to prepare more adequately for the future.

Visit http://www.retailbustour.com/ for more details.