The pandemic put a spotlight on the inefficiencies of this retail format, and now it’s up to malls and retail store owners there to reinvent the shopping experience. What does this mean for the future of malls?Ģ020 may be the turning point for shopping malls.
In fact, from November 27 through November 30, Shopify merchants’ total online sales grew by 76%, to more than $5.1 billion-up from the more than $2.9 billion reported over Black Friday Cyber Monday weekend in 2019. Instead of shopping at malls, there’s been a major shift to shopping online this holiday season. "Shopping center traffic in the last week of November 2020 was down 42% year over year." With the pandemic top of mind this year, customers have diverged from traditional shopping habits and opted out of in-person shopping-especially at malls.Ī tracker from Placer.ai showed that shopping center traffic in the last week of November 2020 was down 42% year over year, while other reports indicate traffic at stores on Black Friday fell by 52.1% compared to the previous year. The pandemic's role in the decline of malls
Mandatory restrictions on in-store capacity limits only compound the issue. According to Coresight Research, 25% of US malls are projected to close within the next five years.
We’re now witnessing daily news of malls filing for bankruptcy or shutting doors. The coronavirus outbreak has only sped up this trend, as health and safety concerns keep shoppers at home. More consumers shop online than ever before, and foot traffic to malls has decreased in recent years. Over the years, malls have become a symbol of consumerism and go-to shopping hubs. In the 1980s, more than half of US retail sales took place in malls.