Brands test malls via kiosks as premium space crunch forces low-risk entry
Beauty, fashion and D2C brands are using kiosks as low-commitment trials to gauge demand before signing full-store leases. Operators like Nexus Select Trust and Brigade deploy kiosks to screen tenants, with the format now accounting for roughly 25% of retail leasing in 2025.
What happened
Nexus Select Trust · Amid premium mall space shortages, beauty, fashion and D2C brands are using kiosks as low-risk entry points to test demand before
Key facts
- 19 malls
- 15 cities
- 11 months
- 25 per cent of retail leasing in 2025
Why this matters
The kiosk-as-trial model creates a pipeline of pre-validated tenants and partnership opportunities with mall operators screening brands ahead of long-term lease deals.
What to watch
- Kiosk share of leasing crossing 30% or reversing below 20%
- Kiosk-to-full-store conversion rates disclosed in REIT earnings
- Shift in kiosk rent structure from fixed to revenue-share
- Vacancy or churn spike among short-tenor kiosk tenants
- New premium mall supply coming online easing the space crunch
- REIT operators build data dashboards tracking kiosk footfall/conversion to prioritize full-store lease offers
- Mall landlords ring-fence kiosk zones and cap density to protect premium tenant experience
- Beauty and fashion brands run multi-mall kiosk A/B tests before committing capex to flagship stores
- Fit-out and modular retail vendors expand plug-and-play kiosk supply chains
- Competing operators launch discounted kiosk entry tiers to poach emerging brand pipelines