Retail

CHICAGO — How retailers can best integrate online and brick-and-mortar sales as well as utilize new technology to analyze shopper activity were two of the most prominent discussion points at this year’s Chicago Deal Making & VRN Outlet Convention. The event, hosted by the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), took place at Navy Pier on Oct. 17-18 and attracted more than 2,400 registered attendees. In a recently released study from ICSC, a new store opening was shown to boost a brand’s web traffic within that market by an average of 37 percent. There’s a special term for it, known as the “halo effect.” The magic formula for today’s retailers and shopping centers is to marry online efficiency with brick-and-mortar locations, according to Karen Fluharty, partner with Montville, N.J.-based Strategy + Style Marketing Group. Fluharty’s remarks came during the “Future of Outlets” session. Today, an omnichannel presence is increasingly critical to a retailer’s competitiveness. Online retailers with growing sales have started successfully transforming their “clicks” into “bricks.” Warby Parker and Bonobos are two of the most well-known online retailers with a steady expansion of physical stores. What’s beneficial for outlet centers is that nine out of 10 consumers say they …