Decomposing Spillover Effects in Shopping Malls
(A2024-119163)

AUTHORS

Manuel Weber, WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management; Christian Schlereth, WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management

ABSTRACT

With the rise of indoor customer tracking, many shopping mall operators are installing sensor technologies to gain insights into customer behavior and movement patterns. However, limited research exists on cross-store spillovers and their economic impact. This study employs network analysis techniques to explore the link between store performance and spillover effects. We decompose spillover into customer inflow from the mall entrance or another store and customer outflow to the mall exit or another store and derive four spillover metrics. Using customer tracking and store sales data from a German mall, we find that first and last stops in a customer’s shopping trip are more valuable than intermediate stops. Stores gaining more first-stop and last-stop shoppers can enhance performance. This unexplored link between foot traffic and store performance provides practical guidance for mall operators and retailers to optimize individual stores within a mall.