Coleen Conklin

Today's U.S. consumer spends five hours per day on a mobile device (Source: TechCrunch) and nearly two hours on social media (Source: GlobalWebIndex), but at the same time she craves real life experiences and destinations that she can enjoy with friends and family. How do shopping centers connect online and offline experiences to drive traffic and sales to their brick-and-mortar locations? Marketing technology.

Today’s demanding consumer increasingly prefers to spend money on experiences over things - and not just typical experiences, but unique, authentic experiences that leave a lasting impression by the brands delivering them. The reality is that the shopper experience is the point of differentiation between retailers seeing increased revenue and customer loyalty, and those who are reporting sales declines and store closures. Bricks-and-mortar retailers can no longer neglect the customer experience… Show more

Today’s demanding consumer increasingly prefers to spend money on experiences over things - and not just typical experiences, but unique, authentic experiences that leave a lasting impression by the brands delivering them. The reality is that the shopper experience is the point of differentiation between retailers seeing increased revenue and customer loyalty, and those who are reporting sales declines and store closures. Bricks-and-mortar retailers can no longer neglect the customer experience if they want to thrive.

So much focus has been on the dramatic growth of online retail, however, 94% of total retail spending still occurs in stores and 78% of consumers prefer to shop in stores (Source: Shop Visible). Shoppers not only desire a social and tactile experience, but they demand that it be efficient, inspiring and entertaining. Even with this evidence clear at hand, there has been a lag time in the evolution of the in-store shopper experience to match consumers’ wants and desires. Since most retailers use the model of their full-price stores to create outlet store concepts, the result has been little to no change in outlet store design and merchandising over decades. However, by examining modern best practices and examples of retailers that have repositioned their brand in innovative ways based on consumer expectations, the outlet shopping experience can be enhanced. Show less

As Americans adopt new shopping habits, often away from bricks and mortar, the No. 1 activity of travelers visiting the U.S. is shopping in stores.

The impact of the travel industry on retail hasn’t been fully appreciated, which means there’s an extraordinary opportunity to increase in-store sales by capturing a larger share of this market. In the past, international shoppers were mostly seen in major destinations such as New York City, Orlando and Las Vegas. But a growing number of… Show more

As Americans adopt new shopping habits, often away from bricks and mortar, the No. 1 activity of travelers visiting the U.S. is shopping in stores.

The impact of the travel industry on retail hasn’t been fully appreciated, which means there’s an extraordinary opportunity to increase in-store sales by capturing a larger share of this market. In the past, international shoppers were mostly seen in major destinations such as New York City, Orlando and Las Vegas. But a growing number of travelers are visiting secondary and tertiary destinations in the U.S., where they shop for a broad selection of products in a variety of retail environments. Show less