CBRE launches omnichannel retail and industrial services

CBRE, leader of the real estate consultancy market, launches a range of omnichannel services in Romania, for retailers who want a quick adjustment to the new market context by expanding industrial spaces. Omnichannel services have already been present for three years in the global CBRE network, mostly in the United States and the United Kingdom, and the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the synergy between retail and industrial worldwide.

The new range of services launched by CBRE Romania through the multidisciplinary retail and industrial teams integrates the solutions already offered to retailers by the local team, in over 17 years of experience. Thus, in addition to land acquisitions, leasing, portfolio optimization, mergers and acquisitions and property management, omnichannel services facilitate tenants’ access to typical solutions for the industrial sector.

CBRE’s strategic decision was taken in a key moment, as the fourth quarter is of utmost importance for the volume of annual online retail sales. The period of time between October – December generates over 35% of the total online retail sales, due to the Black Friday and Christmas campaigns, which also reflects in a greater temporary need for industrial spaces.

“Consumers spend more and more time online. The ecommerce sector is growing rapidly and our data indicates a doubling of the online sales rate, from 7 to 15% in a maximum of five years. At the same time, the dynamics of the consumer’s presence in physical stores entails a real time need for stock efficiency and optimization. The need for storage spaces becomes a key factor for serving the consumer: online order delivery times and the shopping experience in the physical space depend on the quality of the logistics process. Just to give you an idea of the demand, 5 out of 10 retailers we are discussing with request details for both retail and industrial spaces“, added Răzvan Iorgu.

The retail team of CBRE Romania, managed by Carmen Ravon, was involved in real estate deals with international brands from different fields of activity in the rental process, from fashion (Peek & Cloppenburg, Inditex group, Victoria’s Secret, C&A, LC Waikiki), accessories and sports equipment (Decathlon, Sportisimo), to FMCG (Nespresso, Burger King, Starbucks, McDonald’s), being also involved in mergers and acquisitions, such as the takeover of the Maya supermarket chain by the retailer Profi

On the industrial market, through the team coordinated by Andrei Jerca, CBRE advised lease transactions of storage spaces for multiple offline and online retailers, for distribution, transport and logistics companies, as well as transactions involving industrial spaces for production companies. Recent customers of the industrial department include Carrefour, PepsiCo, Sameday, NDB Logistics, DS Smith and E Van Wijk.

Carmen Ravon and Andrei Jerca have each a real estate experience of over 13 years, during which they worked in consulting and commercial development, respectively asset management.

The modern industrial spaces stock in Romania will exceed the level of 5 million sq m by the end of the year, according to CBRE data. Relative to the population of Romania, this volume represents an industrial stock of 260 sq m per thousand inhabitants, below the regional level (347 sq m per thousand inhabitants in Hungary or 510 sq m per thousand inhabitants in Poland), with a potential for further growth. As for the retail spaces, according to CBRE, the modern retail stock was estimated to reach 3.84 million sq m of shopping centers and retail parks, at the end of the third quarter.