The 2025 Levin Management Corp. annual Mid-Year Retail Sentiment Survey revealed three quarters of the store managers polled said their year-to-date sales met or surpassed mid-year 2024 levels.
Some 74.8% reported same or higher traffic, an LMC Mid-Year Survey high, and 82.4% expected sales to increase or maintain pace through year’s end.the commercial real estate services firm noted.
Many respondents to the survey, conducted among retail store managers from the firm’s 125-property portfolio, stated their companies are making new tech investments this year, at 44%, as smaller but growing contingents actively engage artificial intelligence to benefit their businesses, at 20.2%, versus 11.8% in the survey a year ago; or explore AI tools, at 35.4% versus 20.6%.
At the same time, 38.1% of LMC mid-year survey respondents said they are looking at new ways to better integrate customer experiences in-store and online, Levin noted. Buy online, pick up in-store is the most popular in-store fulfillment option, as 54% of those polled saying they offer the option, with local delivery and ship-from-store, both at 32.5%, following.
When it comes to tech-enabled marketing today, 65.3% of store managers are using social media, 62.7% email marketing, and 47.5% loyalty/rewards program platforms. More than a third of survey participants incorporate content marketing, display/banner ads, search engine marketing and search engine optimization in their digital mix.
Half of survey respondents who are active on social media said they use paid options such as ads or boosted content, though only 14.4% sell directly within social media platforms at this point. For the first time, the mid-year survey asked store managers whether they are partnering with influencers in digital marketing, and about one-quarter of participants said they are using influencers to help promote their brand or products, Levin maintained.
“We asked store managers within our leasing and management portfolio whether economic conditions, trade policy or consumer sentiment during the past six months changed their outlook for 2025,” said Matthew Harding, Levin CEO. “With under 30% answering in the affirmative, we see a clear indication that retailer performance expectations are less tied to shifting conditions than in the past few years. The bottom line is people are shopping and spending.”
Melissa Sievwright, LMC’s vice president of marketing, added, “AI is revolutionizing retail, and our tenants are using chatbots and other tools to improve customer communication, personalize product suggestions, and schedule appointments and deliveries. On the business end, AI is being leveraged for inventory control and demand forecasting, marketing and more. Retail tenants are working hard to meet evolving consumer preferences and providing fulfillment flexibility and a convenience-focused in-store experience are key. Social media’s dominance is no surprise, especially with platforms like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok quickly evolving into cost-effective advertising and direct sales channels. Those three platforms for several years have ranked as the most popular social media options in our mid-year survey.”.
