Big Tech and EV Will Disrupt the Shopping Experience through 2030 | Can They Save Retail and Entertainment?
Last year, The UBS Group (NYSE: UBS) reported that some 80,000 retail stores were on target to close in the U.S. by 2026 in what some are calling a “retail apocalypse.” That’s nearly 9% of the remaining department stores that had previously survived a significant loss of foot traffic and years of economic decline.
Globally, there’s been a dramatic increase in store closures, with retail declining from 18% to more than 27% in just a short amount of time. This number, fueled by social distancing restrictions and the lack of interest in public gatherings, began accelerating at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic with a lack of certainty on the rise.
Experts expect e-commerce to continue driving store closures, citing that online sales have increased more than 50% for major big-box retailers.
Coresight Research predicts that roughly a quarter of all operating stores will completely close in the next 3 to 5 years. And while some media outlets don’t believe this will really happen, they do believe that some 250 malls will become mixed-use facilities — places for shopping, entertainment, health and wellness.
Since July 2021, Cushman & Wakefield PLC (NYSE: CWK) reports that more than 700 anchor…