The Return to Office and Retail

In early June, Jones Lang LaSalle’s CEO Christian Ulbrich reported the Return to Work “Worst is Behind Us.” Headquartered in Chicago, Ulbrich went on to say he is seeing 65% of its employees return to the office full-time.

According to a CNBC report, Dallas, Houston and Charleston, S.C., are markets where office occupancy is more substantial because those cities didn’t have strict lockdown policies in the past few years. However, workers in other markets, especially on the coasts, are still reluctant to return.

As a measure of tracking employee attendance at the office, some employers are “tracking office badge attendance” and confronting workers who are not complying with company policy.

Albuquerque has been “back to the office” for well over a year now. That said, the pandemic did cause attrition due to Covid health risks, early retirements, and care duties, including working parents who found staying at home with their children beneficial to both themselves and their families.

In addition to returning to the office, consumers are returning to dining out and brick-and-motor shopping. Although recent macroeconomic changes and wider societal and technological innovations have led to shifts in shopping behavior, brick-and-mortar locations remain the primary channel for consumer purchases in the United States. This is true for both retail and office locations.

Foot traffic analytics, which reveal how consumers behave in brick-and-mortar retail outlets, can provide critical insights into current consumer preferences. Landlords can use this information to their benefit to best understand who is visiting their retail and office buildings. Are the visitors the tenant employees who come and go daily, or are they customers and clients of the tenants?

Here at NAI SunVista we have the ability to help Owners, Landlords and Tenants track such traffic. If this is of interest to you, simply reach out to me and I will be happy to run the numbers for you!