Apocalypse to Relevance: WD Partners' White Paper Details Ways Malls Can Reinvent Themselves

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Nov. 5, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- In an increasingly digital world, once dominant retail players are closing for good. It would appear that the American mall concept is destined for impending death. But there's hope. With an estimated 300 of the nation's 1,100 remaining malls expected to close in the next five years, it presents a warning sign to retailers, but with proper reinvention that goes well beyond a fresh coat of paint, our survey says a mall resurgence is possible.

While social trends and have changed dramatically since malls' heyday, the activities Digital Natives and potential mall-goers are now seeking present entirely new opportunities – and challenges – for today's retailers. In our latest research report, find out what anchor reinvention concepts are most appealing to shoppers in the mall of tomorrow.

We surveyed 4,000 consumers, and the data was then segmented into distinct groups: Digital Natives (age 18 to 29) and Digital Immigrants (age 46 and older). To find a potential solution, we studied contemporary consumer culture and isolated 11 mall reinvention concepts with the energy and relevance to draw a crowd to a physical space in our increasingly digitized world.

The concept rankings reflect the percentage of respondents' top 2 boxes that said they would be more likely to visit a mall that has this concept based on influence to purchase. Our leading concepts are food-related, followed by places where consumers could be active and stores that blur the digital and physical space.

Not surprisingly, the results are a stark contrast from the retail that is available to consumers at most malls today. That contrast and our survey results represent a call to action for the opportunity to completely reinvent the mall concept.

Click here to purchase a copy of the white paper and see the complete findings and recommendations.

About WD Partners
WD's mission is to drive and shape the future of customer experience. Our passion has been to solve our clients' challenges and anticipate their future needs. We are customer fanatics that pride ourselves on being on the forefront of retail disruption. WD's integrated services include: strategy & insights, brand & design, architecture & engineering and constructions services.

SOURCE WD Partners

Related Links

http://www.wdpartners.com