Steven A. Lieberman

In today’s omni-channel world, many retailers will need to reestablish the role and function of their stores to differentiate their business and leverage their physical advantages. Retail developers clearly must do the same with shopping centers.

Whatever we do to remain on the front edge of the tech curve, the inefficient aspects of our business will remain our most valuable means of differentiating ourselves. We must continue to listen intently to our customers, understand their key objectives, and deliver above and beyond their expectations.

Why would you choose either/or, when you can have both? In reality, we often have to make that choice. In retail, we don’t. I don’t think that it's a coincidence that the word “retail” is embedded in the words “reality” and “real time." Retail has always been a dynamic industry, as retailers must constantly adapt and many times reinvent themselves. In fact, responsively developing its brand and delivery systems is critical to essentially every retailer’s success.

Many leading retailers, such as Bed Bath & Beyond now consider the Internet their biggest store. Retailers are finding that their digital and physical strategies are not competitive, but rather complement one another, increasing their sales and lowering their costs, as their online and offline strategies become seamless.

There is no question that "bigger is better" is at the heart of capitalism. However, as growth retailers continue to adapt to an environment with little to no new space coming online, we are seeing new concept stores and prototypes being developed to meet the available space in targeted markets.