The Driving Force Behind Retail’s Brick-and-Mortar Resurgence
In retail real estate, it’s out with the ‘new normal’ and in with the old. Michael Weil, TheNecessity Retail REIT’s president, and CEO calls the current state of the market a full-on retail renaissance, as retailers and their stores rebound for a better balance with the e-commerce side of the business. The leader of the newly rebranded REIT spoke about what’s changed and how we got here.
“Retailers have embraced the fact that consumers will use e-commerce, but over the last couple of years the healthiest companies have married the online access with the convenience of bricks and mortar in a balanced and growing omnichannel strategy,” said Weil. “Stores have become that ‘last mile’ interface between the customer and retailer.”
Consider that 72% of US retail transactions will occur in physical stores, according to Forester. And ICSC found that 62% of online orders are fulfilled at physical locations. From shopping preferences — ICSC reports that 64% of consumers have returned to pre-pandemic shopping habits — to future robust leasing projections, the numbers fully support a healthy omnichannel future.