According to a new report from CBRE, global online sales are expected to increase by $1.5 trillion over the next five years, requiring an additional 1.5 billion square feet of online fulfilment space by 2025.
CBRE estimates that every additional $1 billion of e-commerce sales globally requires 1 million square feet of new distribution space.
The United States alone will need to add 330 million square feet of warehouse space dedicated to online fulfilment by 2025 just to handle the increase in online ordering.
That forecasted demand growth for distribution space represents 27 percent of the projected overall demand for industrial real estate in the U.S. through 2025, according to CBRE Econometric Advisors. The broader category of industrial real estate includes warehouses for traditional retail distribution, manufacturing, R&D space and data centers.
“E-commerce has grown steadily over the years, but as many consumers changed their buying habits during the pandemic, we saw activity accelerate,” said Jack Cox, Managing Director, EMEA Industrial and Logistics. “This will continue to place significant importance on distribution and supply chain networks, as well as support record performance of logistics properties. As long as this consumer base continues to grow, we believe the Logistics sector has more room to grow as well.”