| A Weekly PropTech Newsletter bringing you industry updates from across the real estate spectrum |
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| The numbers are in, and we sure hope they’re reflective of what your property experienced because they are pretty impressive! According to NRF, the five day stretch between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday saw the largest shopping turnout since they started tracking in 2017. Mastercard’s initial SpendingPulse data showed that both online and in-store sales increased. With all the questions about the economy, impacts of tariffs, and overall consumer confidence, we must say we’re slightly surprised, but very thrilled by this news. How much of this success was driven by the integration of AI and technology? While it’s hard to fully grasp, based on the headlines, it might be quite a bit. How did your property handle the holiday kick-off?
This week we were also reminded that in addition to newer technologies, “older” ones are still worth keeping an eye on as social media continues to gain ground in the shopping ecosystem. Regardless of all the online shopping action, retail landlords seem to be heading into 2026 in a favorable position. In case you missed our LinkedIn post, we’re in NYC this week where David is moderating an AI 101 conversation at ICSC NY on Thursday – let us know if you’ll be at the show or in town for a quick meeting! |
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| ChatGPT referrals to retailers’ apps increased 28% year-over-year, says report [TechCrunch] According to a new analysis , ChatGPT referrals to retailer mobile apps increased 28% year-over-year over the Black Friday holiday shopping weekend, running from Thanksgiving Day on Thursday through Sunday.
How Walmart, Target, and more retailers are infusing AI into their shopping experiences [Business Insider] Major retailers are integrating AI into their shopping experiences. Retailers have partnered with AI companies, such as OpenAI, and developed their own tools. AI assistants can help with product recommendations, checkout, and customer service.
A.I. Can Do More of Your Shopping This Holiday Season [The New York Times] Target, Walmart, Ralph Lauren and other retailers this year unveiled chatbots that act as conversational stylists and shopping assistants. That means people who want to find matching pajamas for the family can ask a chatbot to sort through the options, or for a summary of customer reviews of an air fryer. |
| E-commerce growth surpasses stores on Black Friday, with sales up over 10% [RetailDive] Black Friday e-commerce retail sales, excluding automotives, increased 10.4% year over year while in-store sales grew more conservatively at 1.7%, per Mastercard’s SpendingPulse preliminary data released Saturday.
TikTok’s next conquest [Quartz] TikTok Shop moved $19 billion in merchandise globally during the third quarter of 2025, according to analytics firm EchoTik. That puts the two-year-old marketplace within striking distance of eBay’s $20.1 billion, which has been an option for shoppers since dial-up internet was cutting-edge technology.
Numerator: Rising prices impacted 64% of Cyber Weekend shoppers [Chain Store Age] The dust has settled on “Cyber Weekend” and a majority of shoppers say that higher prices impacted their purchase decisions. That’s according to new insights from Numerator, which found that more than half (56%) of consumers shopped primarily or exclusively online during the Black Friday-Cyber Monday stretch. |
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| Retailers Are Snatching Up Real Estate Again [The Wall Street Journal] Retail landlords are heading into next year on surprisingly solid footing, making the most of robust spending that has defied gloomy consumer sentiment and pressure from tariffs. Retailers moved into 5.5 million more square feet than they vacated in the third quarter.
Which Real Estate Sectors Are Ripe for Proptech Disruption? [Commercial Observer] More than a decade into proptech’s disruption of real estate, many greenfields for industry adoption remain. Even as proptech, and especially artificial intelligence within the field, spreads increasingly throughout real estate, founders are finding some sectors need intervention more than others.
Office-to-Residential Conversions Are Booming and New York Is the Epicenter [The Wall Street Journal] Over the past two decades, developers in New York have converted nearly 30 million square feet of office space into residential living, with the pace of transformation picking up in recent years. |
| The mall’s role as a cultural holiday hub [Chain Store Age] At Mall of America, the holidays aren’t just a shopping season, they’re a showcase of what makes physical retail more vital than ever. As the nation’s largest retail and entertainment destination, MOA continues to prove that shared experiences drive both joy and results.
Holiday shopping turnout jumps to 202.9 million people during Thanksgiving weekend, NRF says [CNBC] An estimated 202.9 million U.S. consumers shopped during the five-day stretch from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday. That marks the largest turnout in all the years since 2017, and it topped last year’s turnout of 197 million shoppers.
Black Friday 2025: Who Won Traffic, and Why? [RetailWire] In an analysis of Placer.ai data points surrounding the biggest retail sales day of 2025 – Black Friday – Chain Store Age editor Zachary Russell noted that there were a few “surprising” winners on the foot traffic front, as well as a few notable laggards. |
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