Some companies, like Sears, Roebuck & Co., have great brand names, Cohen said, but have relied too much on advertising and lost much of their customer base. Yet other firms, like Amazon.com and Starbucks, have done minimal advertising in their relatively short lifetimes, and lead their respective retail categories because of their innovative offerings. "The secret is that experience is the brand," he said. "You have to give the customer choice and control, and you must be the first."

Cohen also touched on the radio frequency identification (RFID) tags that Wal-Mart and other large retailers are starting to use in place of barcodes. "This is going to change consumer behavior," he said. "It's going to change the way stores are built and how consumers react." In the future, a person will try on clothing in a video monitor-equipped dressing room, and the RFID will enable the customer to learn more information about the product just by looking at the screen, he said.

Earlier, Michael Kercheval, ICSC's president and CEO, gave an update on the state of the retail real estate industry. "Retailers are generally healthy around the world," he said. "We're seeing more openings; we're seeing fewer bankruptcies." Occupancy rates are up, rents are up and cap rates are down, he added.