Manikka Bowman

Preliminary retail numbers for the 2017 holiday retail season are in, and retailers not only survived, they thrived. The MasterCard SpendingPulse report showed an increase in holiday sales of 4.9 percent, setting a new record for dollars spent. This is the largest year-over-year increase since 2011. With a steady economy and unemployment at its lowest point in eight years, consumer confidence is strong. And it is prime time for traditional retailers to strengthen their playbook in a world of booming online retailing.

Online retailers reported an 18 percent increase over 2016’s sales figures, while brick-and-mortar retailers reported reduced foot traffic. According to CNBC, “U.S. department stores fared, for the most part, much worse than their other retail peers in 2017.” Brands like Macy’s, Sears and JC Penny continue to evolve their operations to combat retail giants like Amazon and low-cost retailers like Walmart and Target. Many are downsizing their footprints and investing more in online retailing, trying to extend their brand image to mobile apps. At the same time, same-day delivery is transforming how the average shopper spends their time and money. Locally, retailers are trying to appeal to a cross-section of shoppers by targeting their brick-and-mortar locations to specific Greater Boston’s neighborhoods and people using public transportation.

New England Development did just that by rebranding its traditional Cambridge urban shopping mall to “CambridgeSide,” dropping the descriptive mall term “Galleria” and refreshing the interior environment with sleek design elements that speak to the energy of the fast-growing, high-tech east Cambridge neighborhood. New pop-up retail opportunities are allowing retailers at CambridgeSide to test the market with new ideas.

In Roxbury, the Black Market – a pop-up retail space for black entrepreneurs – is tapping into the economic boom. Chris and Kai Grant, the founders of the market, are Roxbury residents. They leased a 1700-square-foot space in the heart of Dudley Square to create an Afrocentric retail experience. Since opening in June 2017, Black Market has not only infused new energy into the neighborhood’s commercial corridor, it has also generated close to $400,000 in revenue for local artists and for the market itself.

Leaders on the municipal level are starting to understand that experience drives retail in a 21st-century economy. The city of Boston recently hosted its second Boston Winter, a festival on City Hall Plaza. The festival took an otherwise dead space in front of City Hall and transformed it into a shopping destination with close to 80 vendors, an ice skating rink and a mulled wine tent. The city has contracted with Boston Garden Development Corp. to manage this newly-formed Boston holiday tradition.

This year the U.S. will experience slow but sustainable real estate growth with an increase of 2 percent annual gross domestic product growth and 1 percent job growth, according to the 2018 Emerging Trends in Real Estate report from Urban Land Institute and PWC. Strong consumer confidence is expected to continue, fueling retail sales through next year’s holiday season. The only question is how old-line retailers will take advantage of a healthy economy and consumers’ willingness to spend to compete with online retailers. If the experience of this year is any indicator, creating a true experience that can lure shoppers from the couch and their mobile devices is a good place to start.

Manikka Bowman is director of policy and outreach for ULI Boston/New England.