Page 105 - DMGT550_RETAIL_MANAGEMENT

Retail Management

Notes their purchases. Another recent study concluded that electronic shopping could shift 10 percent
to 20 percent of sales away from retail stores.
In addition to catalog and TV shopping, cyber retailing has entered the scene, and continuing
advances in infotechnology will make home shopping more desirable. Many retailers now
have World Wide Web pages on the Internet to market their goods, making cyberspace the great
equalizer as retailers of all sizes compete on an even electronic playing field.
At a recent panel discussion regarding retail strategies, a panelist and counsel for a major
supermarket company in the Northeast stated that his company is “rethinking” the concept of
the 25-year lease, as the speed of technology is changing the way retailing will be done in the
future. The Catalina Marketing Corporation is currently beta testing a new Web site that will
allow consumers to comparison shop at local supermarkets. The site also provides online
advertising from manufacturers and coupons that consumers can print from their home
computers.
Ultimately these technological changes will result in a reduced need for physical space as retailers
expand electronically. Tenants that may disappear from shopping centers include camera and
photo-processing stores (as digital cameras, without film, become more popular), travel offices,
music stores, and bank branches (that are meeting and serving customers online, greatly reducing
costs).

All of these factors will diminish the value of location. Eventually consumers will come to value
the convenience of shopping online over the need to personally pick out products, just as they
have with catalog shopping. For example, if a retailer were to offer its products online, the
customer who wants to touch and try on the products at a regional location could do so; others
could stay at home, make a selection, place an order, and await delivery. The retailer would
eliminate the need for a location in every market.
As an example, consider L.L. Bean, the leader in catalog retailing; most consumers know where
they can visit its stores. Becoming a destination retailer, less emphasis is placed on location.
With fewer retailers needing fewer locations, there will be an abundance of good locations. We
see this trend already as the vacancies for traditional strip centers increase and their lease rates
decrease.

The Next Trend
Will all of this technology eliminate the need for us to leave our homes? Human beings are by
nature social creatures. Therefore, shopping will evolve into places for entertainment and
socialization. In many areas of the country, particularly the waterfronts, we have already seen
this new breed of retailers clustering around entertainment venues and tourist destinations.
Now that value pricing has left its mark, customer service and entertainment will again become
the hallmarks of retailing.

For example, theater chains and other entertainment venues are taking center stage as the
anchors of new retail centers. The newest entertainment concept is Sega GameWorks, a 5,000-to-
30,000-square-foot venture between Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks, MCA/Universal, and Sega.
Approximately 20 freestanding and/or mall locations across the country are planned, with the
first to open in late 1996 in downtown Seattle. National and regional restaurant groups are
complementing the mix of this new environment.
Under All Is the Land

In many areas, few choice undeveloped sites-level and visible from the highway or easily
accessible-are still available. Those remaining may have any number of challenges associated
with them. Determining and providing the following information to the developer or user will
undoubtedly expedite the process, and surprisingly, is often overlooked.

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