Necessity, convenience, and experience

To view a version of this email in a browser, [click here](. INC. THIS MORNING Necessity, convenience, and experience Good morning, I was in Boston with some of my best friends from college over the weekend. It was a fun trip. It also led to three experiences involving shopping: - I went to the mall ahead of the trip. I needed a shirt, and wanted to try Untuckit. (In general, shopping is not my thing, but I made this exception -- buying something in a mall, rather than online -- because this was one of the few times that delivery a day or two later wouldn't cut it. Also: You know what they offer at Untuckit while you're waiting for your new shirt to be steamed? Bourbon. At 10:30 in the morning. It was a little early for me, but another customer took them up on it.) - I landed at Logan. The most important thing I had to do on this trip was to get a present for my preschool-aged daughter, so I took care of that before I even left the airport. (I got her a children's book and a little stuffed duck, in case you're wondering. We've only read Make Way for Ducklings about 50 times.) - Heading home, I started reading The Wall Street Journal and came across this article: [“What Does It Take to Get People to the Mall? Drag Queens, Racy Circus Acts and Disco Parties.”]( The headline sort of says it all. Among the stunts that it chronicles malls doing recently to counteract declining foot traffic: - A California mall threw a silent disco party. ("Stores experienced a 20% to 200% uptick in business" that day.) - A Minnesota mall invited customers to walk their dogs inside before it opened in the morning. (This one seems like it was maybe not a success; there were problems with people not cleaning up after their dogs.) - In Los Angeles, 1,500 people showed up for an elaborate Pride celebration. ("Some people who attended returned later to shop," a spokeswoman said.) I've written a lot lately about the convergence of digital retail and brick and mortar. I'm intrigued by some of the things that [Walmart]( [Target]( [Ikea]( and other big companies have achieved, for example. But that's mostly individual brands. What about the malls? A [report last year]( that between 20 and 25 percent of them will close by 2023. Assuming it's worth trying to save them, what's the best strategy? It seems to me, based on my own experience and observations, that there are likely three reasons why people still go shopping in person, instead of simply ordering things on their phones, reviewing what arrives, and returning whatever doesn't work for them: - First, they'll go when they have no other choice. - Second, they'll go when shopping in person is (paradoxically) more convenient than shopping online. - Finally, they'll go when they just like the experience -- whether they enjoy the shopping itself, or the silent disco party, or the glass of bourbon that comes with their shirt. I'd never want to run a shopping mall, but if I were in that position I'd triple down on those three incentives: necessity, convenience, and experience. Anything that differentiates you from your competition, and that customers actually want (at least sometimes), sounds like a smart strategy to grow. 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[Click here to start investing like the 1 percent in minutes.]( HERE'S WHAT ELSE I'M READING TODAY: How a company at which [75 percent of workers are on the autism spectrum]( recruits and hires employees. --BBC I wrote about [an ex-CIA veteran whose new memoir includes some intriguing 21st-century spycraft]( such as a trick for setting up meetings that involves Starbucks. --Inc. 5 cities where you can [retire comfortably on $37,000 a year.]( --CNBC Why JPMorgan Chase wants to [help more people with criminal records get hired.]( --Fortune [Chick-fil-A opened a restaurant in London]( after protests, announced it would close nine days later. --The Washington Post [The influencer economy]( isn't what it used to be. --The Wall Street Journal Next up: [self-driving electric scooters.]( --The Atlantic [This private club for executive women]( has plans for world domination. --Inc. --Bill Murphy Jr. Contributing Editor, Inc.com Story ideas and feedback actively solicited. Find me at [billmurphyjr@inc.com](mailto:billmurphyjr@inc.com?subject=), or on [LinkedIn]( [Facebook]( and [Twitter](. [Click here]( to forward to a friend. This email was sent by: Mansueto Ventures 7 World Trade Center, 29th Floor New York, NY, 10007, [Unsubscribe]( • [Update Profile]( • [View in Browser]( • [Forward to a Friend](