Now & Next: Retail in the Age of COVID-19 ICSC's Now & Next Summit: Retail in the age of COVID-19

At ICSC’s inaugural Now & Next event, retail giants and CEO’s shared what they have done to innovate and facilitate growth and recovery after COVID-19. Experts discussed important industry and policy updates, including economic forecasts for the holiday season and an analysis of the 2020 election landscape. Get a look into our latest virtual conference below.

SPEAKERS FROM

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Brian Cornell | Chairman & CEO, Target

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Mary Dillon | CEO, Ulta Beauty

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Sandeep Mathrani | CEO & President, WeWork

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Judith McKenna | President & CEO, Walmart International

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Retail in the Age of COVID-19

See the full event agenda and list of speakers

Brian Cornell | Board Chairman & CEO, Target

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Mary Dillon | CEO, Ulta Beaty

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Sandeep Mathrani | CEO & President, WeWork

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Judith McKenna | President & CEO, Walmart Intl.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Economist Forecast with Moody's Analytics

At two months, the recession that COVID-19 sparked was the shortest in U.S. history but also the most severe, according to Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi. He expects GDP to recover fully by spring 2022 and employment to reach “full” status, meaning 4 to 4.5 percent, by the second half of 2023. This forecast, however, assumes additional stimulus from the federal government. “If lawmakers [don’t] pass another fiscal rescue package — don’t do anything — odds are pretty good that the economy is going to go back into recession by the end of the year,” he said.

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Retail & the Built World Post COVID-19: A VC’s Perspective

Landlords that think of their relationships with tenants less as transactions and more as investments will create more productive spaces, according to JLL Spark director of investment Kitty Sullivan, Fifth Wall Ventures co-founder and managing partner Brendan Wallace and Building Ventures principal Heather Widman. Stores are becoming immersive experiences where customers can interact with brands, Sullivan said. Widman noted that space is becoming more like a service, where landlords can help tenants acquire customers. And Wallace said such equity investment-style relationships, in which landlords curate brands rather than seeking the tenants that can pay the highest rents, align landlord and tenant interests. One big benefit to the partnership approach: access to retailer data.

How Data Will Reshape Retail Decision-Making

A company is best served when it hires a data specialist to help real estate experts query its data and build stories, said Placer.ai co-founder and CEO Noam Ben Zvi, whose company tracks and analyzes mobile data, and Spatial co-founder and CEO Lyden Foust, whose company tracks and analyzes social media conversation to determine consumer types. Foust said the companies that will be most successful will combine at least two of the four main external data types available to retail and real estate companies: demographics, data on surrounding businesses, mobile data and social media data.

The Year Ahead for: Cannabis

“There’s been an increase in sales across the board since COVID began from locals and tourists,” said Kellen O’Keefe, chief strategy officer for cannabis retailer Flower One. The sales surge is causing local and state governments to cooperate with cannabis businesses, said Hoban Law Group attorney Bridget Hill-Zayat. Until the federal government legalizes recreational cannabis use, however, control of the industry will remain in the hands of a few small companies and investors, she added.

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