Retail and banking industry leaders came together during The Rollout Event, hosted virtually by RetailSpaces.  The panel included Tom McGee, President and CEO of ICSC, Matt Boss, Head of Consumer Products at TD Bank, and Rob Almond, CEO of NEST, the leading integrated facilities management firm.

Despite the pandemic, McGee, Boss and Almond provided an optimistic outlook for the retail industry due to retailers' ability to be flexible, pent-up customer demand and consumer's available liquidity.

"ICSC is forecasting a solid holiday season with 1.9% growth year-over-year," said McGee.  "This holiday season will be longer for a variety of reasons, including retailers encouraging shoppers to get out earlier.  As a result, you'll see a continuation of the trends that have accelerated over the course of the last number of the months due to the pandemic."

"NEST's retail clients are telling us they have received more foot traffic than they expected during the pandemic," said Almond.  "People want to get back out and shop.  That made us feel good, knowing that once people feel safe, customers are going to walk back into the stores."

"One thing we've seen (at TD Bank) is that loyalty really matters," said Boss.  "With specific retailers, a disproportionate amount of their business has come from what we consider loyal customers.  We've seen some of that physical spend come back and there are reasons for optimism."

To view highlights of their discussion about the future of retail, go to https://youtu.be/3Ds5CE5v3i4.