What: Forget about the retail apocalypse: even the US malls have managed to reinvent themselves and increase their traffic

Why it is important: Retail used to be all about curating the best assortment possible of brands, but not anymore: the place itself needs to be a magnet for customers. This is a feature that department stores have capitalized on for centuries.

Placer.ai, a start-up specialized in traffic analysis, reviewed the performance of 9 US-based malls which, through innovative initiatives, managed to increase their footfall even though customers are increasingly going online for their purchases. They basically had to reinvent themselves and question what they could bring to customers.

Through a new flexibility when it comes to leases duration, malls are able to try new concepts which would have been otherwise rejected. Among the new ventures tested, an amusement park for kids, a casino, Eataly, or an Asian supermarket.

As a consequence, malls are increasingly encouraged to turn towards experience, food & beverage and amusement, and less towards cold retail (beauty, clothing), forcing such brands, also, to reinvent their proposal if they want to stay relevant in these spaces.

The pandemic did not kill malls but made them smarter