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As RECon 2013 draws to a close in the Las Vegas heat, CBRE head of consultancy Jonathan De Mello gives us his final recollections on an eventful few days.

"Tuesday at RECON - what a day!! The conference area was extremely busy as Tuesday was essentially the last day before everyone heads back home on the Wednesday. I was even busier than Monday with a host of meetings both planned and impromptu - really frantic but highly productive networking with lots of great new contacts and some interesting new brands that are keen on entering the UK and wider European market.

Now Americans aren't exactly known for being environmentally friendly, with BIG Oil, BIG cars and the ability to super-size pretty much anything, but the key theme I picked up from RECON this year - from a number of different US retailers - was their desire to build retail 'ecosystems.' 

This generally but not exclusively applies to retailers that also have wholesale and concession 'doors' in addition to free-standing stores and an omni-channel platform, but essentially relates to a desire to make money from a market overall through 'balancing' the ecosystem of all possible outlets, in addition to building brand equity. 

In the digital age this approach is becoming increasingly relevant, as retailers compete to trade in the best locations with high footfall in order to build up the brand which in turn fuels growth for their online business - which generally yields stronger profit margins for them. The ecosystem concept extends this further to incorporate wholesale and concession retail too, which again can in certain markets outperform free-standing stores from a profit margin perspective. 

Channel choice is therefore key, but free-standing stores are essential to this in terms of building up brand equity to drive sales through the other channels, as well as providing an outlet for click and collect services, which generate the highest margin of all given the delivery costs associated with pure online retail. Given the continued importance of free-standing stores - which in themselves will not typically generate stellar margins in very high footfall areas given these locations often have very high rents to match, as an industry I have often thought we should move towards trying to measure the positive impact of a free-standing store on brand equity. 

One way that this could be done is through applying metrics PR firms typically use - such as 'advertising equivalent' to footfall numbers going past a store. This would better aid retailers - and landlords - to understand and quantify the true benefit of having a store beyond just turnover and profit.

Wasn't planning on writing an essay for this blog but it has sort of turned into one - so moving on - it is impossible to write a blog on Vegas and not talk about the evening networking that goes on outside the convention centre. Tuesday night was particularly fruitful for me from that perspective with the NY Developers pool party at the Bellagio, a great dinner at the Mandarin Oriental with some current and new clients, and finally 1 Oak club at the Mirage, where a number of brokers were to be found engaging in a final bout of networking over drinks to wrap up their ICSC in style. It was a fitting end to a great trip to Vegas, and I for one will definitely be back for more next year!"

CBRE's head of retail consultancy, Jonathan De Mello, takes us through the events of an exciting second day at the global shopping centre market conference in Las Vegas.

"It was a real mission to get out of bed at 5am on Monday morning, following the 10-hour flight the day before and consequent heavy jet lag. However, I am glad I did given the hundreds of delegates that were waiting in the conference room for the panel session at 7am when I got into the convention centre! Americans take the adage of work hard/play hard to new extremes, with many of them looking rather the worse for wear after a big night on the Vegas Strip, but still very much there and ready to do business on what must have been only a few hours sleep the next day.

It was great to be part of the panel session with some good questions put to us by the moderator on omni channel, the future of retail, property investment, innovation and other topics. As I was representing European retail, questions on the Eurozone inevitably came up, linked to retailers' current appetite for expansion within and beyond the European marketplace. It is clear listening to the other panellists that retail faces similar challenges around the world, though each country/region has its own particular issues, such as import duties in Brazil discouraging retailers to invest there, or lack of quality infrastructure in India, which presents significant logistical challenges.

Overall though the mood at the session and also during the first day of RECon itself was upbeat. Attendance numbers are well up on previous years and currently tracking ahead of pre-2008 levels. Delegates here, whilst mindful of the lessons learnt post-Lehman, seem to be looking forward to the future with positivity. The key word being used here is 'growth' in contrast to an extent with the UK where business sentiment seems to be a little less upbeat at present. However, it is only a matter of time - given how closely linked the UK and Europe are to the US - before that positivity begins to permeate into UK retail. It's about time too given we are currently in one of the longest downturns in the economic cycle since records began!

The convention centre itself is hugely impressive, with some opulent stands on display. There are three separate areas spread over the 1m sq ft exhibition space - each one of which could comfortably accommodate the entirety of the Mapic 'bunker.' Today was very much about pre-arranged client meetings as given the sheer size of the venue randomly bumping into people you hope to meet simply isn't feasible in the way it is at BCSC, Mapic or any of the European conferences. CBRE alone have brought circa 800 delegates from around the world, which gives you an idea of the scale of the event.  My meetings today were very much back to back, and mainly with retailers - many of which aren't currently present in the UK and Europe but are interested in the market, or have a fledgling presence but want to expand further. Some good new names coming to a retail centre near you soon - watch this space!"

RECon 2013, the global shopping centre market conference, is upon us again. And more than 30,000 industry figures are descending on Las Vegas for the summit this year. CBRE's head of retail consultancy, Jonathan De Mello, has sent his first report from the front line. Expect to hear more from him on this blog over the next four days.

"In a taxi on my way to Gatwick and RECon 2013 and very excited about my first ever trip out to what is the biggest get together of retail and property professionals in the world. I have attended MAPIC every year over the last 10 years, but everything I have heard about RECon is that it - in true American style - is a supersized version of that - on steroids with a huge side order of fries!

Sunday is CBRE's Cabana party at the Wynn pool, which unfortunately I am going to miss as my plane won't get into Vegas in time. The whole idea of networking in your swimming trunks by the pool is quite alien to us Brits, and probably with good reason given the average fitness level of Brits in property is likely to be sub-Vegas poolside standard! However, I am looking forward to the CBRE opening cocktail party at the Encore later - to catch up with a number of clients that are attending the event from around the world as well as CBRE colleagues I haven't seen for some time.

Looking ahead, these opening events are definitely the calm before the storm, with a whirlwind series of back to back winner takes all 30 minute meetings from Monday morning onwards into Wednesday when everyone heads home. Monday morning at 7am is the Global Delegates breakfast, and I am honoured to be part of a panel there representing Europe, with panellists also there from the US, Asia, and Latin America. It should be a good session given the questions that have been circulated in advance on the impact of omni channel and other topics, and I am hoping to provide some insight to delegates on these topics from a European perspective. If you are reading this blog and attending RECon, it would be great to see you there bright and early on Monday morning!

Approaching Gatwick now in record time - thanks to an 'out there' cab driver that sees speed limits more as guidelines than statutory law!"

KPMG have this week published research which indicates that retailers worldwide are beginning to come round to the view that effective implementation of mobile technology is eclipsing more traditional ways of generating business.

The research, compiled following a survey of 350 senior financial officers of global retailers and consumer brands, also indicates that a decrease in annual revenue is widely expected, with opinion varying from country to country on how far mobile technology can help to maximise sales.

The U.K. respondents appear to be the least enthused about the ability of mobile technology to deliver a much-needed boost to retail sales, with only 36% of the Britons surveyed stating that yes; the technology will drastically help improve sales over the next two years - compared with 46% in Germany, 44% in America, and 50% in India. 

Although it does indicate a lukewarm leaning towards the benefits of mobile transactions, those percentages seem incredibly low. Especially when considering further insight by KPMG published in September last year, which indicated that over 90% of financial services executives believed mobile payments were 'yet to go mainstream'. This is in spite of the fact that an estimated $3 billion worth of transactions were processed via mobiles last year - four times the amount for 2010.

What figures, then, can we expect when mobile transactions really take off? We could be looking at astronomical numbers - and it's then even more alarming to consider that less than four out of ten retail CFOs in this country remain, at present, unconvinced of its merits. Perhaps it's down to an inherent mistrust of new technologies, and 'Big Brother' paranoia thwarting appropriate progress in the fusion between the old and the new.

Do we, then, continue with the slow progression towards (and begrudging acceptance of) a coalescence of modern technology and traditional retail values; or do we do away with the myopia, and give mobile technology the chance it deserves in the immediate future to help resurrect a broken retail market?

I'd rather hope that more than 36% of retailers, agents and landlords in the U.K. would choose the latter.

This week has been quite a revealing week for the retail industry with some of the UK's biggest retailers producing their Christmas trading results.

There have been some clear successes. House of Fraser, John Lewis, Sainsbury's, New Look, SuperGroup, Debenhams, Majestic Wine, Foyles, Morrisons and JD Sports have all reported increased like-for-like sales figures.

But there was a more worrying picture being painted by the likes of Home Retail Group, Tesco, Mothercare, Halfords and Thorntons, which all flagged up falling sales. Some of these lacklustre results come despite widespread discounting in the run up to Christmas, which will have hit retailers' pockets.

A clear opportunity or warning sign (depending if your glass is half full or half empty) for both retailers and landlords to pick out of these results lies in the blossoming online sales figures. They helped some retailers push through a tough trading period.

John Lewis said: "Our very successful multichannel and online operations have been at the heart of John Lewis' performance. All three John Lewis markets were instrumental in driving sales in this area, with johnlewis.com outperforming its market and seeing 27.2% growth."

"As the 'Click and Collect' facility has proved to be so popular, from next month the number of collection outlets will more than double to 116, including collection points in 84 Waitrose branches, with more being planned."

Debenhams' like-for-like sales increased by 1.4% including VAT in the 18 weeks to 7 January 2012. However, its online business, which it says is a key component of its multi-channel offer, delivered like-for-like sales increase of 34.8%. 

Ellen Flood, retail expert from Shopow says: "The internet is developing as a key element of the retail landscape. Online shopping offers shoppers an incredible amount of choice, convenience and savings."

"What we will see this year is the evolution of the high street with leading retailers changing their approach, and in many cases their product lines, to reflect the tastes of the modern shopper."