DMM Retail Industry e-News Issue #193

Retailers Couldn’t Handle COVID Curveball, Some Dodged and Adjusted

Retailers aren’t the only ones suffering and struggling in the pandemic. TV viewership was down for Major League Baseball’s coronavirus-shortened season, but congratulations go out to the Dodgers (as suggested in the headline) for winning this year’s so-called World Series. A recent survey by logistics solutions provider GlobalTranz and Edelman Intelligence revealed retailers, like the Dodgers’ opponent, the Tampa Bay Rays, were also caught on their heels as the COVID curveballs came in during the early stages of the game. In a recent article on SupplyChainDive.com, author Matt Leonard noted how retailers were initially caught off-guard, even giants such as Home Depot and Walmart, which have done well during other crises including natural disasters. “[Specialty] stores were running to Office Depot, OfficeMax, you know, wherever to get shipping boxes because they didn’t expect that they would need as many as they did,” said Moody’s lead retail analyst Charles O’Shea. “We are in…a pandemic-driven experimentation phase for retailers.”

Pop-Ups Become Go-to Retail Options During COVID

Short-term leasing opportunities – sometimes referred to as pop-ups but also known as Specialty or Short-term Leasing – have found some friends with retail in this challenging environment. In a new blog post on ShoppingCenters.com, retail Real Estate specialist Greg Parsons says property owners who have lost some retailers due to the pandemic have been looking for ways to fill those voids. “The concept of opening a temporary store started as a way to make some extra money for entrepreneurs. Now, data analysis, psychology, and marketing all play a major role in the success of a pop-up,” Parson said. “We all remember our science experiments conducted in 10th-grade Chemistry. Fundamentally, opening a store on a short-term basis should follow the same steps as these high school experiments: Control, Independent & Dependent variables, and Constants.” Click here to read more about some Pop-up success stories, including The Food Network, Kendra Scott and Halloween Express.

Shoppers Prefer Outlet Malls During Pandemic, Because…

Outdoors and values. New research has shown that shoppers have preferred to take their business to outlet malls, typically outdoors, for the most part, and for their perceived values. Sheena Butler-Young of FootwearNews.com cited a recent report from Placer.ai. The report found that annual weekly data for has shown that visits to outdoor malls were down 23.6% while indoor centers declined 33.2%. Outlet malls saw lower dips in average traffic, approaching levels comparable to last year. “The ability to provide a ‘mall-esque’ experience in an open-air environment where social distancing is less of a clear concern is uniquely appealing when consumers clearly miss that shopping option,” Placer.ai noted. Do you agree? Why or why not? Click here to Tweet us your thoughts.