CHICAGO, CINCINNATI—Retailers and owners bring new innovations to the marketplace every year, giving each holiday shopping season unique aspects. This year, CBRE researchers anticipate that shoppers across the US will see the emergence of “pop-up warehouses,” along with an even greater proliferation of “pop-up shops,” an expansion of mobile commerce and strength in discount retailing.

“As e-commerce reshapes modern retailing, blurring the lines between online and in-store activity, retailers and shopping center owners must continue to adapt with fresh approaches,” says Melina Cordero, head of retail research for CBRE in the Americas. “We anticipate that this season will showcase strategies of reaching customers through multiple selling channels as well as catering to their demand for new concepts and value pricing.”

The proliferation of e-commerce has unsettled the world of retail, but it has also helped both retailers and owners open themselves up to short-term experimentations, according to a new report from CBRE. As a result, “short-term retail leases – often called pop-up shops – have evolved from a trend last season to a full-blown phenomenon this season. Retailers, and now retail-center owners, favor the flexibility and experimentation allowed by short-term leases, and shoppers appreciate the variety of a shifting roster of stores.” In fact, several of the largest US mall owners have reserved space in their strongest properties for pop ups.

“Pop-up shops are here to stay in Cincinnati,” says Chris Hodge, a Cincinnati-based senior vice president at CBRE. “They benefit both the landlord and tenant by allowing fresh, new concepts access to space on a temporary and cost-efficient basis. At the same time, they allow these new incubator concepts access to thousands of customers while they tweak their concepts for future growth and profitability.”

Everyone knows that an ever-increasing number of shoppers use e-commerce to complete their purchases. But many people have missed the growing use of mobile commerce. eMarketer forecasts that more than a third of online sales this year will occur on phones and tablets. And CBRE expects that this year more retailers will use m-commerce tools to market products, facilitate sales, and handle customer-service.

Discount and off-price retailers began thriving during the recession and have sustained that momentum ever since. CBRE predicts that these retailers will further expand their market share this holiday season. That growth in turn will spur mid-market retailers to discount their prices to compete.

The unpredictability of online sales can create instant, short-term surges of demand for warehouse and distribution-center space, CBRE researchers add. This potential headache has many retailers engaging service providers that create “pop-up warehouses” in certain markets. “Early results show higher efficiency and lower costs,” they say.

“CBRE has identified these trends by examining public and proprietary data, querying our Retail professionals and listening to our clients,” says Brandon Famous, CBRE's senior managing director of retail advisory and transaction services and retail leader, the Americas. “We see these trends as natural steps for retailers striving to perfect their omnichannel operations for selling across all channels and to enhance consumers' experiences in each.”

Instant Insights /

Pop-Up Shops Coming to US Malls This Season

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