This may be the defining year when the internet cements its place as the shopper preference over schlepping into stores, particularly at Christmas. And it's pretty amazing when you think back only a decade or so ago when bricks and mortar retailers were confidently predicting only marginal inroads from online purchasing in the future.
Instead of the typical post-Thanksgiving headlines about how much more shoppers purchased this year over last (by the way that rise was pretty anemic), the big news this week has been that more was purchased on line than in stores even before Cyber Monday. And Cyber Monday was suddenly not such a big deal, because consumers have figured out how to ferret out the best deals throughout the holiday season by surfing the web.
A friend matter-of-factly told me she did $500 worth of shopping last weekend off her desktop in 30 minutes, got everything she needed for the kids and her husband without the parking, the wading through crowds, standing on lines, and navigating traffic back home. Convenience wins out--she found precious time to take a nap… The only snafu was she forgot to change the delivery address from her home to her friend's house so her two sons wouldn't see the boxes until Santa had arrived… Now many people aren't thinking about shopping in stores—they're just shopping online. For Christmas especially, there's no need for instant gratification in buying something and having it that day—we wait to open gifts on Dec. 25 so what's the point of going to a store?
Over the weekend Target was using a ginger man on its TV commercials to tout online deals (rather than coaxing shoppers into its stores) and the lines at Best Buys and other big box retailers on Black Friday no longer snaked around the block like in the past. Thankfully, there were no stories either about frenzied shoppers trampling each other to be the first into Walmart.
Amazon stock and profits are through the roof and drones are about to start delivering packages to your front door. Department stores continue their slow, but steady decline toward less relevance—after buying up so many regional brands now mighty Macy's stalls while JC Penny struggles with an umpteenth makeover. Whatever happened to Sears? Is Kmart even still around? And this is good for malls? And is it my imagination or are there more empty storefronts in strip centers?
Of course, shopping in stores will continue—there's still entertainment value and a "something-to-do" factor especially in most American suburbs where there are not a lot of to-do alternatives… Restaurants and movies are at malls, and if you want to take the kids to see Santa well that's where you go.
But shopping has become more of a chore for parents juggling long hours at jobs and the realities of raising children with squeezed budgets. Traffic gets worse in most metropolitan areas—weekend jam ups are as common as rush hour delays. If you don't need to make a trip to the mall, why get caught on the roads wasting so much time?
Click, click is so much easier.
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.
Once you are an ALM Digital Member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
*May exclude premium content© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Jonathan D. Miller
A marketing communication strategist who turned to real estate analysis, Jonathan D. Miller is a foremost interpreter of 21st citistate futures – cities and suburbs alike – seen through the lens of lifestyles and market realities. For more than 20 years (1992-2013), Miller authored Emerging Trends in Real Estate, the leading commercial real estate industry outlook report, published annually by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Urban Land Institute (ULI). He has lectures frequently on trends in real estate, including the future of America's major 24-hour urban centers and sprawling suburbs. He also has been author of ULI’s annual forecasts on infrastructure and its What’s Next? series of forecasts. On a weekly basis, he writes the Trendczar blog for GlobeStreet.com, the real estate news website. Outside his published forecasting work, Miller is a prominent communications/institutional investor-marketing strategist and partner in Miller Ryan LLC, helping corporate clients develop and execute branding and communications programs. He led the re-branding of GMAC Commercial Mortgage to Capmark Financial Group Inc. and he was part of the management team that helped build Equitable Real Estate Investment Management, Inc. (subsequently Lend Lease Real Estate Investments, Inc.) into the leading real estate advisor to pension funds and other real institutional investors. He joined the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the U.S. in 1981, moving to Equitable Real Estate in 1984 as head of Corporate/Marketing Communications. In the 1980's he managed relations for several of the country's most prominent real estate developments including New York's Trump Tower and the Equitable Center. Earlier in his career, Miller was a reporter for Gannett Newspapers. He is a member of the Citistates Group and a board member of NYC Outward Bound Schools and the Center for Employment Opportunities.
