National CRE News In Your Inbox.
Sign up for Connect emails to stay informed with CRE stories that are 150 words or less.
Five Trends Shaping Food Service Expectations
Food & beverage per se is old news when it comes to retail megatrends. To make the concept work at the shopping center level takes careful curation, JLL recently reported.
However, Naveen Jaggi, president of retail advisory services at JLL, noted that shopping center owners can capture 12% more sales revenue and 35 extra minutes of time in the mall from those who stop and eat, versus those who don’t partake. “That’s a pretty big chunk of time and money when you compound it over thousands of shoppers,” he added.
JLL found that Americans now spend more on eating out than they do on buying groceries. “There is a tangible benefit of creating a compelling food offering within a shopping center, but the challenge is that there is no one-size fits all solution,” said Jaggi. “Retail owners must know their customer, catchment and competition to be able to customize food service accordingly and reap the rewards.”
The firm has identified five trends in food service expectations and behavior that will shape both the retail and food & beverage industries of tomorrow. They include:
Experience Economy. “Today, consumers are migrating from collecting things and stuff, to collecting surprising, unusual experiences,” according to the report. To that end, JLL expects eating to collide with “art, gaming, technology or theater, with an increased use of virtual and augmented reality.”
Supply Unchained. “We expected that traditional retail boundaries will continue to blur, as suppliers sell directly to the public, and restaurants grow their own in-house ingredients.”
Better Business. “Consumers are connected to brands with social or environmental value…those that benefit people, planet and society…with more than two-thirds of people wanting brands to help them make a difference in the world.”
Youniverse. “It used to be all about fashion, but today, you characterize yourself by what you eat,” especially on social media.
Conveni-Tech. “Meal delivery has grown 25% in the last three years, and is expected to grow 14 percent by 2020. Now consumers expect quick, quality food at the tip of their fingers.”
For comments, questions or concerns, please contact Paul Bubny
