MAPIC: Retailers plan large-scale expansion in 2013

Global retailers will continue to expand store networks in 2013 alongside the development of multichannel strategies, with 20% aiming to open 30 stores or more in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) by the end of the year - and nearly three quarters aiming to open five or more stores, according to new research from CBRE.

With multichannel retailing becoming increasingly important, online shopping remains an important area of growth alongside store expansion. Cross-border retailers will continue to develop online transactional capability in new markets in 2013, with 40% looking to expand their geographical online coverage, up from 28% last year. Only 27% of retailers have no significant plans to enhance their transactional capability in 2013.

Retailers' overall expansion ambitions for 2013 have not changed significantly from 2012. A similar proportion of retailers plan to open 10 stores or less (44%). One third of retailers - more than last year - plan to open 11-30 stores, reflecting an ambitious but realistic level of expansion given the difficulty in accessing prime space in many markets. However, large scale expansion plans are still on the agenda for many retailers with 20% looking to open more than 30 stores compared to 25% last year.

The most important target for retailers in 2013 is Germany (54% of retailers), reflecting its strong economy within the eurozone area. Twenty new international brands entered the German market in the first half of 2012 with the luxury and upmarket sector providing most of the new arrivals, including Paule Ka, Belstaff, Stone Island, Loiza, Zadig & Voltaire, Tory Burch and J. Lindberg.

Karsten Burbach, head of retail services for Germany at CBRE, commented: 'Germany is back on top as the most targeted destination for international retailers. We’ve seen some of today’s most in-demand retailers adding to their German store portfolios this year, including Apple, which secured four new sites, plus Hollister, which opened its first German high street stores in Bonn and Stuttgart. We anticipate more new arrivals in 2013 and beyond.'

Although retailers will target a wide variety of markets in 2013 they are still seeking to minimise risk. All other countries in the EMEA region will be targeted by fewer retailers than in 2012, with the next most sought-after markets being Austria (25%), The Netherlands (24%), the UK (24%), Poland (23%), Spain (23%) and France (22%). Belgium reaches 14.4% in 2013 against 25.6% in 2012.