CONTENTS

PRINT THIS STORY:

CHANGE TEXT SIZE:

The expanding Web

By Kevin Kenyon

A little more than a decade ago, the "Internet" and "World Wide Web" did not even exist in the minds of most people in the United States.

The same could be said of e-mail, e-commerce and Yahoo!, which was once known only as an exclamation of excitement, not a popular search engine.

Today, it would be hard to argue with the fact that the Internet has become an integral part of our daily lives.

The seeds for what was to become the Internet were first planted in the 1960s, when a group of scientists were contracted by the U.S. Department of Defense to come up with an advanced communications system in the event of a nuclear war.

In 1989, the results of that sprouted into the World Wide Web, which finally opened the Internet to the masses.

The rest, as they say, is history.

But as the world sits in anticipation of a new century, the time may be appropriate to examine various ways the Internet will affect the shopping center industry in the years to come.

Does e-commerce spell doom for elaborate malls and retail centers? Will virtual malls one day be more popular than traditional malls? Will online grocers replace supermarkets?

Only time will completely answer those questions.

In the meantime, the Internet is proving to be a valuable commodity for shopping center professionals. Some developers are using it as a leasing tool, while others are using it as a communications tool to link employees from around the country.

But one of the Internet's greatest qualities -- its ability to save time -- may also be an asset to leasing professionals in the very near future.

In today's fast-paced world of retail real estate, the difference between a few hours and a few days can sometimes make or break deals, and one lost deal with a top retailer can translate into thousands of dollars over the life of a lease.

For that reason, it could be said that a developer's ability and/or inability to close deals on a timely basis is a critical factor in the eventual success or failure of a shopping center.

But to do that, dealmakers such as leasing agents need ammunition. For years that ammunition has come in the form of demographic site reports.

Such data, which can range from population numbers to household income, have been extremely valuable to developers in their attempts to persuade retailers to join their centers. Unfortunately, a lack of time is often cited as a "killer" in the dealmaking process.

With the increasing use of the Internet, however, that time frame continues to grow shorter. A growing number of today's demographic firms are offering their services over the Web, with the idea that developers can access reports in minutes instead of hours and days.

Although many of the reports offered over the Internet right now are extremely limited compared with the state-of-the-art, in-house geographical information systems (GIS) that many developers use, many in the demographics industry believe that will eventually change.

If all goes as planned, leasing agents will soon be able to download custom-made demographic reports with the click of a mouse -- all while sitting across from potential tenants.

At the least, leasing agents in the field would have more information at their disposal to assist them in their efforts to convince tenants to join their centers.

In theory, that would free leasing agents from being at the mercy of time -- they would no longer have to wait days to get site reports to clients.

The need for demographic information in the shopping center industry may be best illustrated by a survey conducted over ICSCNET, ICSC's Website, earlier this year.

When 215 shopping center professionals were asked if they used demographic information on a regular basis, 198 answered yes, while only 17 said no.

Those same respondents said they used demographic data approximately 7.6 times per month on average, paying between $59 and $159 per report.

But the survey also revealed (299 responses) that many shopping center professionals still use either call-in services (134), or their own in-house department (56), while others (109) said they used both.

Asked if they've ever bought reports online (319 responses), 240 people answered never, 63 said at least once, and only 16 said they purchased them often.

That indicates that the majority of people, as of now, are not taking advantage of what's available on the Internet.

Five or 10 years from now, the Internet may be the main source for all the shopping center industry's demographic needs. On the other hand, it may be nothing more than an afterthought.