Additional storage facilities: the situation in European countries
Consulting company Effigy conducted an analysis of the commercial real estate market. Based on the data, experts argue that in the coming years Europe will need additional storage space.
Between 2021 and 2025, the European Union will need to increase storage space by approximately 8.6 million square meters. This figure will be able to cover the growing demand for facilities, observed by the segment of e-commerce.
For 2019, 12.3 billion parcels were moved within the EU. In addition, data from OFCOM for the UK shows an annual increase of 9.1% in the number of deliveries. Based on this information, we can conclude that in the next few years Europe will see a significant increase in demand for storage space, and to avoid a shortage, we need to think today about increasing the supply.
If we take the situation that in the period from 2021 to 2025 there will be returned about 20% of all goods purchased online, the courier services will need 1.7 million square meters of warehouse space to receive and process them.
For 2020, there was a surge in online sales worldwide, with pandemic and quarantine restrictions being the main problem. The increase in demand for parcel delivery has led to an increase in demand for warehouse real estate. Retailers are now working to reduce the number of returns, but even so, demand for space in this segment will remain high. And space is needed for both returns and new inventory.
According to Savills, returns of goods bought online vary by region. The U.K. lags behind other countries in e-commerce volume. In 2020, its share was 28%. In the Netherlands, 3PL logistics companies have introduced a new strategy for the return transaction. This system should make it easier and faster to process such parcels. Large retailers are actively developing in Poland. They are increasing the number of warehouse facilities to provide quality services and expand the base of local and foreign customers.
According to experts, there are no prerequisites for the warehouse market to slow down. There is an increase in demand from retailers who are interested in logistics centers for processing orders, shipping and handling returns. At the same time, the opening of physical stores has not had much effect on online trade, the volume of which continues to grow almost all over the world.