| December 5 – 11, 2022
 Articles in the Mall Talk section this week touch on the importance of short-term leases, as well as the uptick in experiential spaces in retail centers, and we’d like to highlight a theme here – fresh perspective. For so long malls were very straight forward propositions – traditional retailers coming together under one roof. But the world has changed and we are thrilled to see retail centers change too. Introducing flexibility–from lease terms and tenants, to services to the technology that powers it all—is the key to long-term success. We’re here for you if you’re unsure how to get started.
Speaking of change, we have an exciting change to share – our new website is now live! Check it out to learn more about who we work with, what we do, and some examples of projects we’ve worked on. We’ve also added a section to sign up for this weekly newsletter, so forward this email to a friend and let them know that they too can get this resource in their inbox weekly. As always, we are also over on Twitter or LinkedIn too,
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Digital Meets Physical
Community Groceries to open frictionless store with Amazon technology [Chain Store Age]
Community Groceries, located in Kansas City, Mo., is set to re-open with a brand-new customer experience on Friday, Dec. 16. The company is collaborating with Amazon to deploy “Just Walk Out” technology and Amazon One palm-based payment in a Kansas City grocery store for the first time.Is Amazon done disrupting retail? [RetailDive]
Amazon has spent the better part of a quarter century forcing retailers of all stripes to innovate, speed up and compete. The company premised its great disruption on its laser focus on the customer — easing the process of shopping and paying, winnowing delivery times to a couple days or less, and slashing prices. But the e-commerce giant’s effect on the sector appears to be waning to some extent. |
What’s behind the social commerce surge in 5 charts [eMarketer]
Though year-over-year growth of social buyers is slowing slightly following a two-year surge, US social commerce sales will continue to climb through 2025. We take a look at what’s driving this growth, which platforms are emerging as leaders, and what social buyers really want.Nordstrom adds augmented reality functionality to consumer app [Chain Store Age]
Mobile Nordstrom shoppers can now have a much more lifelike experience on the upscale department store retailer’s app. Customers can now view more than 300 different men’s, women’s and kid’s shoes in 3D or augmented reality (AR) on the Nordstrom app. This feature enables shoppers to see the product up close in high resolution, without physically having the item in front of them. |
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Micro & Last Mile Fulfillment
Is your warehouse slowing crowdsourced drivers down? 5 ways to make sure drivers succeed [Roadie]
The faster a crowdsourced driver can safely enter a warehouse facility, locate the correct order, load it up and drive off, the faster the customer receives it. And while outside factors like bad weather or heavy traffic may interfere, companies that take the time to prepare their facilities and employees for crowdsourced deliveries get better results. |
Forget DoorDash and Uber. Walmart and Kroger Are Now the Innovators in Food Delivery. [Barron’s]
The next generation of grocery delivery is likely to be defined by the traditional brick-and-mortar giants building out their own delivery systems and even providing their services to their rivals. Investors are likely to find Walmart, Kroger, and potentially Amazon offer better rewards than their previously more nimble partners. |
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As holiday shopping takes hold, retailers like Dollar Tree and Sephora are leaning into third-party delivery platforms [ModernRetail]
Dollar Tree expanded its partnership with Instacart in late October to deliver products as quickly as an hour. DoorDash, on the other hand, has been growing its roster of retail partners in recent months. It teamed up with Sephora in November to deliver beauty products within an hour, and the month before that, it added Tractor Supply into its app. |
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Restaurants & Ghost Kitchens
How restaurants should prepare for the on-demand digital economy’s peak [Nation’s Restaurant News]
The future of restaurants is here: a future where your digital footprint is more crucial than your physical entryway, where customers expect online hospitality to be just as (if not more) easy to use and as convenient as in-person dining, and where every operator knows more than just your name. Essentially, restaurants must be “everything everywhere all at once” thanks to tech giants like Amazon, Google and even Netflix. |
What’s the Next Big Tech Trend for Restaurants? Here’s What the Experts Say [QSR Magazine]
As today’s innovation-fueled climate supports, QSR’s Digital Disruptors had a lot to say this year. But if past, pandemic years were best defined as an industry catching up to others, where do restaurants go from here? What avenues and tech innovations are best to invest in for the near-term? To get ahead of whatever wave comes next? Have we progressed beyond the flash and into the substance? |
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Mall Talk
Q&A: Macerich’s Ken Volk on the importance of short-term tenants [Chain Store Age]
Macerich’s digital QuikSpace program allows prospective tenants to inspect spaces and rent them online for any term from one day to 12 months. Chain Store Age spoke with the company’s executive VP of business development Ken Volk to learn how it’s working out.Galleria launches buy in store, deliver to home service for holiday shopping [Click2Houston.com]
The Galleria is now offering a hand-free shopping service that will allow customers to shop bag-free at participating stores. The service, powered by Dropit, a retail technology company, can be downloaded through the “Dropit” app or requested with an associate to collect their bags for delivery to their home or hotel, according to a release. |
JLL: National retail rents up 4.4% in Q3; experiential tenants taking up more space [Chain Store Age]
Retail property fundamentals remained rock-solid in the third quarter as retailers continues to open more stores than they closed. That’s according to JLL’s Retail Outlook/Q3 2022, which found that vacancy fell from year-ago levels across all major markets except San Francisco.CBL malls to add 232k sq. ft. of entertainment options [Chain Store Age]
The new motto of one of the nation’s largest mall owners appears to be “Let us entertain you.” CBL properties, which replaced empty anchor spaces with casinos at two of its malls in Pennsylvania, is moving apace with its strategy to position entertainment brands as traffic draws at its 94 centers in the United States. |
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