The Comeback of the Physical Store—and What It Means for Your Business
The past seven years have arguably been the most tumultuous in recent retail history: Covid, major technology changes, tariffs, and higher interest rates have reshaped buying and selling in the sector. But the tumult has also clarified realities.
Shopping-center vacancy in 2024 was 5.4%, the lowest in 20 years, and mall patronage is highest among younger Gen Z shoppers (ages 18 to 24) who grew up in the smartphone era. The dominant narrative of the past two decades—store replacement by e-commerce and direct-to-consumer (DTC) models—has stalled. According to Census Bureau data, e-commerce as a portion of U.S. retail sales in the 2025 were 16.4%, barely above the 16.3% it reached during the second quarter of 2020 (maximum lockdown conditions during the pandemic), and its annual increases in each of the past four years have been their lowest since……..
Sources include:
hbr.org
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