The Top 3 Retail Trends Of 2022

As we finish off the first half of 2022, we wanted to talk about some of the biggest trends we see coming to the commercial real estate industry. At Sites USA, we focus on retail commercial real estate the most, so let's start with one of the biggest players in the industry:

Drive-Thrus Are More Valuable Than Ever

By far the most valuable asset in recent years - especially for restaurants - is the drive-thru. While they were standard for bigger, national chains like McDonald's and Taco Bell, the smaller brands are taking note. We've talked about some of those brands before, but even more have jumped on the bandwagon. Sweetgreen, a new favorite for many hungry professionals, is testing a drive-thru-only location called “Sweetlanes” in Chicago. Other brands are trying out the other “next big thing”, digital stores. This type of store has been popping up in urban areas, where space is limited for dining rooms and customers want convenience first. Panera recently updated its current store design to encourage app usage and is planning a rollout of the “next-gen of Panera” through digital kitchens in California and D.C. by the end of the year.

Brands Are Creating New Brands

Dollar Stores have been blowing up in the commercial real estate market over the past few years, and it doesn't seem like they're stopping soon. Dollar General, the biggest name in the industry with over 18,000 locations, has been expanding its family of brands, starting with Popshelf. If you're unfamiliar with Popshelf, it is Dollar General's newest brand that focuses on different demographics from their other brands, such as families in suburban areas or incomes ranging from $50,000 to $120,000. Similarly to their main competitor, Five Below, Popshelf will be $5 or less and sell products from home decor to cleaning supplies.

Surprisingly, IHOP is another brand expanding its offerings, with a new fast-casual brand named Flip'd. This new brand promises both quick sit-down and to-go breakfast classics like pancake bowls and “egg sammies”, as well as classic lunch and dinner meals such as burgers. Flip'd has online ordering available for even easier pick-up and is gearing up to provide catering services as well. While both Flip'd and Popshelf are still new (and still expanding out of their test markets) we at Sites USA are going to keep an eye out for both of these brands - and more.

Technology Is Changing Everything

While Digital Kitchens and Delivery Robots are cool, they are just the beginning of new tech for leaders in the commercial real estate industry. One big innovator in this space is Amazon. With Amazon's “just walk out” tech being implemented into more spaces, it's important to know what to expect from these types of stores. Recently, Starbucks and Amazon Go partnered to create “just walk out” stores with Starbucks pickup counters in New York City. These stores will be completely digital, with all payments going through either Starbucks or Amazon's apps. While these types of stores are still being tested and built, they represent a huge opportunity for other retailers to innovate, collaborate, and meet customers where they are.

Speaking of which, Starbucks has been on a roll lately! The company also recently made news for Target, which announced a re-vamped “pick-up” experience for app users, including returns from the car, and now, Starbucks orders. In Target stores, their store-within-a-store concepts only allow in-store customers to order from the Starbucks counters. Certain Target stores will now be testing Starbucks orders from their app, with a Target or Target-Starbucks employee delivering the order directly to their customer's car. Target has long been leading the way for both brand collaborations and implementation of tech, but it seems like most customers have been asking for this for a while now.

Commercial real estate, especially retail, has seen a lot over the past few years, and we don't expect that to change any time soon. While we're still only halfway through the year, commercial real estate has a lot ahead. We at Sites USA are excited to see what else this year has to offer and what other innovations, brands, and stories will be told by the end of the year. •

Last Modified July 15, 2022