The current Placer.ai Mall Index indicates that the back-to-school season drove a considerable increase in mall foot traffic across the United States, which has been very beneficial to the retail and fashion industry. For retailers and fashion brands navigating the changing face of physical retail, this spike in customer behaviour provides insightful information.
In August 2024, visits to indoor malls increased by 7.3 percent, marking the largest year-over-year (YoY) gain. With YoY visit gains of 5.8 percent and 6.1 percent, respectively, outdoor shopping centres and outlet malls also experienced strong growth.
College students found open-air shopping centres especially appealing; in comparison to the national average, their captured marketplaces were 170 percent over-indexed for the “College” sector. This group was likewise over-represented in indoor malls. Conversely, families with children began to favour outlet malls as their preferred travel destination, with this demographic over-indexing by 3 percent. This raises the possibility of a relationship between outlet stores’ value proposition and frugal back-to-school buyers.
The relevance of specialised marketing and merchandising tactics is highlighted by the differing attractiveness of various mall formats to different populations. Retailers who operate in several formats ought to think about modifying their product lines and marketing strategies appropriately. Value is still a major motivator for some customer segments, as evidenced by the success of outlet malls among families. Retailers and fashion firms may want to think about how to highlight value in their products without sacrificing quality or image.
Even with the difficult weather, customers showed a great desire to interact with physical retail establishments. This data demonstrates the rising popularity of in-person shopping, especially during major shopping events like back-to-school. It also implies that merchants must to be ready to satisfy customer demand independent of outside influences.
The analysis also showed how calendar changes affect year-over-year comparisons; in July 2024, for example, traffic was somewhat lower than in the previous year because there were fewer weekend days.
