In an era where e-commerce fulfillment has become a competitivedifferentiator,  mall owners are evolving their operationsto work with tech-enabled logistics companies to establishmicro-distribution hubs in their retail centers. Today more than60% of mall-based retailers have ship-from-store capability, withmalls averaging 950 to 3,200 packages shipped daily, accordingto Fillogic, the logistics-as-a-service platform.

"Property owners, retailers, and freight delivery networks havelong inhabited the same ecosystem, but until now they have notoperated as an integrated network," Bill Thayer, co-founder andco-CEO of Fillogic, says in prepared remarks. According to Thayer,tech-enabled mall-based solutions are designed to aggregate demandand maximize efficiencies for all stakeholders.

Fillogic has announced plans to open tech-enabledmicro-distribution hubs by July 1 at five major retail properties,four of which are in New Jersey and one isin Connecticut. The mall owners are Brookfield Properties,Macerich, and Taubman and the micro distribution centers will beset up in Deptford Mall, Paramus Park, Stamford Town Center and twoother regional properties. By the end of 2020, such hubs will havebeen set up at 10 locations  in the tri-state area,according to Fillogic.

A Wider Trend

Micro-fulfillment distribution hubs is a trend that is spreading across manyretail categories, especially the grocery sector. Adding amicro-fulfillment center into the backs of grocery stores — a $2million-$3 million investment — "could fix critical gaps in onlinegrocery fulfillment, increase store productivity, and make REITshopping centers even more critical real estate," BTIG analystsMichael Gorman and James Sullivan say in recent research note.