The Marketing Corner: Revolutionizing the Shopping Experience

People walk through a mall on in New York City, in this file photo. Malls have become "shoptainment" centers to keep attracting female customers (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Women have long been associated with shopping. And, to a fault, that association hasn’t always been a positive one if you are married to a shopaholic! However, women knew long ago that shopping wasn’t just shopping. It is also a means for entertainment or social gathering of friends or family. 

Interestingly enough, malls today are more transformative and have become so-called shoptainment centers. Malls may have finally taken a few cues from female shoppers by seeking to be a place not only to purchase something but a place for entertainment or social gathering. 

Within your local communities, you may see redesigns taking place and a shift to open-air and smaller footprints. Look at Wal-Mart, as an example, which has a smaller footprint in downtown Chicago, to elicit more of a “neighborhood” store vibration. This smaller platform allows for convenience and ease of shopping for consumers in a very busy urban center. This does not mean that there isn’t demand for traditional formats, only that the smaller platforms do serve a purpose. 

The world of e-commerce continues to grow. But marketers should realize that the brick and mortar experience is not dead, On the contrary, the mall is still the main platform where many consumers purchase their goods/services. Given current trends, savvy marketers are defining, via communication messages, how key lifestyle passion points are being met by these locations.

For small business owners with brick and mortar locations, take a look at your store environment and the consumers’ engagement level. The more inviting and atmospheric you can make your store environment, the better chance you have to keep that consumer engaged and hopefully spending money. Store-level is proving to be more than transactional as competitive pressures continue to heat up. This can become one more tactic to assist in setting your business apart.

Adele Lassere is a marketing/advertising consultant with 20+ years of experience, freelance writer, and author of “Elements of Buying: A How To Reference Guide on Advertising for Business Owners,” available at Amazon.com. Adele was listed on Black Enterprise’s 2011 Top Execs in Marketing & Advertising and Black Enterprise’s 2013 Top Women Executives in Advertising & Marketing. Contact: [email protected]