CBRE RELEASES ‘HOW ACTIVE ARE RETAILERS GLOBALLY’
Taipei – Growing online sales will not deter retailers’ physical store expansion plans in 2016, reports CBRE in its seventh edition of How Active Are Retailers Globally?, a study of over 150 major international brands based in Americas, Asia Pacific and EMEA.
China is the top target market in APAC and the fourth most popular globally, with 27% of retailers looking to expand there. This is followed by Hong Kong in sixth position (24%), Japan in seventh (22%), Singapore in ninth (21%), and Taiwan (11%) in seventh in APAC. The top three globally were Germany (35%), France (33%) and the UK (29%). Meanwhile, interest in Southeast Asia surged, with Malaysia (10%), Indonesia (9%), Thailand (8%), Vietnam (8%) and the Philippines (8%) all receiving more than double the interest they saw in 2015, when all markets secured between 1-3%
When questioned about the risk factors for them in the coming year, brands indicated that real estate cost escalation (56%) and unclear economic prospects (42%) continue to be at the forefront of their minds. The survey findings show that 83% of brands suggest their physical store expansion plans for 2016 will not be affected by the growth of e-commerce. Meanwhile, from a retailer perspective only 22% of the brands are concerned about stiff competition from online retailing as a threat to their business.
“A physical store presence in key locations is still critical to the strength of a brand’s image. Stores still need to create an emotional affinity with shoppers, and customers still feel a need to go into stores, to physically touch a product and enjoy the feel-good factor associated with a particular brand experience. The store is integral to the shopping journey and can be used in a number of different ways, such as to click and collect, research of the product or brand, or to test the product. It isn’t solely about the transactional side,” said Joseph Lin, Managing Director of CBRE Taiwan.
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About CBRE Group, Inc.
CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBG), a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company headquartered in Los Angeles, is the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm (based on 2016 revenue). The company has more than 75,000 employees (excluding affiliates), and serves real estate investors and occupiers through approximately 450 offices (excluding affiliates) worldwide. CBRE offers a broad range of integrated services, including facilities, transaction and project management; property management; investment management; appraisal and valuation; property leasing; strategic consulting; property sales; mortgage services and development services. Please visit our website at www.cbre.com.
