Over the past year, Colliers Real Estate Management Services has published a series of reports to provide our clients with unique insights on the recovery of office, industrial, and retail assets.
Retail Recovery: What’s changed…and how must we respond? is the third installment in our series on how the pandemic has affected retail assets and what to expect in the years ahead. We surveyed a diverse array of tenants across our 12 million square foot national retail portfolio.
Key takeaways:
- The retail industry is poised for greater stability, as total consumer spending between March 2020 and May 2021 was only 2% less than what was forecasted before the pandemic.
- The success of the enclosed mall will require refinement of the merchandise mix and improved access to necessity retailors, as those with a grocery store managed to keep an average of 7% more consumer foot traffic throughout the pandemic than malls without one.
- Brick and mortar retail performs better in suburban and tertiary markets, as compared to urban markets; at some points reaching a difference of +10% vs -24% in foot traffic compared to the start of the pandemic.
- The number of retail tenants offering an e-commerce platform doubled during the pandemic (from 27% to 58%), yet 77% of tenants still say profitability is highest when customers shop in-person.
