MAPIC: Retailers must adopt infrastructure for ecommerce race, JLL warns

Real estate plays a crucial role in a world of rapidly evolving online retail strategies, Jones Lang LaSalle says in a new report released for Mapic 2013.

With online retail sales expected to exceed $1.2 tln (€897 bn) globally this year, retailers are under pressure to decide where, when and how packages should travel from dock to doorstep.

In the first of a series of new white papers on global ecommerce, JLL reveals how different global markets are building their delivery infrastructure to suit cultural and consumer demand.

'Global retail expansion once meant adding properties in some of the world’s premier high streets such as New York’s Fifth Avenue or the Champs-Élysées in Paris. Now it also means specialised big box warehouses and package pick-up or sorting centre,' explained JLL’s president of industrial, Craig Meyer.

'Now that 39% of the world’s population has internet access, customer preference for online shopping has gone global. Retailers are using new types of facilities to keep up with deliveries and demand while staying in step with local cultures,' he said.

Global online sales currently account for 4% of total retail sales and are growing at a rapid pace. In fact, global online sales grew 14.8% per annum from 2007 to 2012 compared to total retail sales, which increased by just 0.9% during the same period.

By 2017, the highest rates of B2C ecommerce sales growth are predicted to occur in Indonesia, China, India and Mexico. In contrast, growth rates in mature markets will be measured, although markets such as the US and UK are still expected to post annual double-digit growth rates.

'Retailers are in a quandary about their international e-commerce expansion plans,' said Kris Bjorson, head of retail ecommerce distribution at JLL. 'Do they invest resources into developing countries with poor logistics infrastructure knowing that they may not see ROI for five years, or concentrate on mature markets, where there is already strong competition for both ecommerce users and premium industrial space, but an established logistics infrastructure?'

Both the full report and key takeaways from the report are available in the PDFs attached below

In addition, here's a link to all the news from Mapic 2013