From Cushman & Wakefield:
We set out to survey the largest and most active retail property investors in Europe to gauge attitudes among the leading innovators in the field. The survey was based on an email questionnaire and we received responses from 22 players, speaking for nearly 1,500 centres, more than 20% of the European total.
Where not confidential, contributors included: Aviva, British Land, Casino Mercialys, CBRE Global Investors, Citycon Oyj, Eurocommercial, Immochan, Immofinanz, Inter IKEA, Intu, Lend Lease, Plaza Centres, Redevco, Rockspring, Sonae and Trigranit.
A total of 68% of the respondents to the survey either agreed or strongly agreed that e-commerce is the most significant factor impacting the sector. Others surveyed see it more as an enabler for bigger macro forces, such as demographics, economics, sustainability and globalisation. However, according to Justin Taylor, head of retail at Cushman & Wakefield in EMEA, “Whilst we recognise that e-commerce is not the only factor driving the market, it is embedded in every aspect of retail from value and quality through to brand and therefore in our opinion, it is transformational for the industry.”
