The ecommerce and brick-and-mortar worlds are colliding, and designers are finding creative ways to integrate the two. According to Greg Lyon, of Nadel Architects, "Retail designers are increasingly designating space to accommodate ecommerce pick up and distribution."

The trend isn't new. Retail owners have been refining store plans to better integrate ecommerce uses for years, but the pandemic accelerated online shopping and blurred the line between and virtual and physical purchase. "While the shift towards ecommerce for both daily needs and specialty retail is an ongoing trend that has led stakeholders to reevaluate their tenant mixes as well as store and center layouts and branding over the past several years, the pandemic created a further sense of urgency for retail designers to think outside of the box to stay relevant to consumers," Lyon, chairman and principal of Nadel, tells GlobeSt.com.

In many cases, in-store space is being repurposed for online fulfillment in the store. According to Lyon, this leads to "shifts in store planning and a need for strategic, streamlined designs that facilitate clear flows of traffic."