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Follow on Google News | Retailers Expecting Earlier Shopping This Holiday SeasonLevin Management Annual Poll Gauges Seasonal Plans, Ecommerce Impact, Performance and More
By: Levin Management During October, the North Plainfield-based retail real estate services firm polled store managers within its 90-property, 12.5 million-square- "It appears that last year's Thanksgiving/ Inventory More than three quarters (77.5 percent) of respondents overall indicated that they will be bringing in as much as or more inventory than last year. In the 2012 pre-holiday survey, a smaller 68.0 percent planned to increase their holiday season stock compared to 2011. A larger 85.7 percent of respondents in the clothing/shoes/ Seasonal hiring More than one third (33.3 percent) of the Levin Management survey respondents indicated that they will add staff for the holiday season. This is a significant jump over last year's 18.4 percent. In the clothing/shoes/ ECOMMERCE, MCOMMERCE AND SOCIAL MEDIA Many ecommerce experts, including Shop.org (http://blog.shop.org/ In fact, only 12.4 percent of the pre-holiday survey respondents indicated that ecommerce has brought negative consequences. The majority, 59.0 percent, reported that ecommerce has not affected their business. Another 28.6 percent said that ecommerce has made a positive impact. "This may speak to a growing synergy between online and in-store formats," Harding said. "Many physical stores are changing their formats to include in-store pickup for online purchases or providing showroom-type space where shoppers can see products in person before they purchase them online. In short, they may be changing, but they are not going away. In addition, not all categories of retail are as sensitive to competition from online channels." Mobile technology also is growing by leaps and bounds as part of the retail marketing mix. Sixty-eight percent of Levin Management's pre-holiday survey respondents noted their company is using this avenue (up from 52.6 percent of respondents in the 2012 pre-holiday survey). Additionally, eMarketer (http://www.emarketer.com/ Retailers' embrace of social media for technology-based marketing also continues to gain ground. Nearly all (97.8 percent) of the Levin Management survey respondents have a presence on Facebook (up from 81.5 percent last year). Twitter remains the second most popular, used by 48.9 percent of respondents (up from 26.2 percent one year ago). "While Facebook and Twitter continue to dominate the social media space, Instagram may be the next big social platform for retail marketing," Harding noted. "The number of survey respondents using the popular photo- and video-sharing site jumped from just over 3.1 percent last year to an impressive 26.1 percent today." Harding added that Foursquare's popularity also is worth noting; the percentage of respondents using the location-based platform jumped from 12.6 percent to 19.6 percent year over year. PERFORMANCE AND PLANS The Levin Management pre-holiday retail sentiment survey also gauged overall store performance. More than half (56.9 percent) indicated sales this year are at the same or a higher level than last (compared to 53.6 percent in the 2012 pre-holiday survey). "While we would like to see this number increase, every step up is positive," Harding said. "Things ultimately are getting better, especially over the past couple of months, according to our tenants and industry sources. Among them, the U.S. Census Bureau (http://www.census.gov/ Harding noted one interesting survey finding involves an increase in respondents reporting a drop in traffic at their stores. "Almost 55 percent indicated lower traffic compared to last year, up from 49.3 percent reporting lower year-over-year traffic in our 2012 pre-holiday survey," he said. "This does not ‘jive' with the encouraging trending in year-to-date sales. The anomaly may be related to the aforementioned trend of consumers pre-researching purchases and shopping in a more targeted way. It will be interesting to see what happens in future surveys." Looking ahead, the Levin Management survey revealed 42.6 percent of respondents' companies plan to open new stores in 2014 - a significant jump from 23.0 percent in last year's pre-holiday poll and 35.9 percent the previous year. "The percentage of respondents with expansion plans is very good news," Harding said. Levin Management's next retail sentiment survey will be conducted in January, gauging actual holiday sales performance and expectations for 2014. Having celebrated its 60th year in 2012, Levin Management is one of the nation's leading retail real estate services firms, with a strong focus in the northeastern United States and an owner's approach to the business. Today, the North Plainfield, N.J., company offers a full range of services for diverse assets including neighborhood, community, lifestyle and power centers, as well as enclosed malls, downtown stores and mixed-use projects in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and North Carolina. Levin specializes in repositioning, retenanting and renovating retail properties - areas that have become particularly vital for today's institutional, fiduciary and individual property owners. End
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