More than half of EMEA retailers plan to open new stores this year

After two years of difficulties faced by retail, the time has come for expansion, 57 percent of the sector's representatives in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region intend to expand their store portfolio in 2022, and 37 percent plan to enter new markets, according to CBRE's "EMEA Retail Occupier Survey." Retailers are looking for new premises mainly in shopping centers and parks and on the shopping streets of major cities. The development of stationary trade goes hand in hand with e-commerce. The increase in the number of premises has a positive impact on the development of online sales.

"The outlook for stationary retail in Europe is bright. Retailers want to make up for the pandemic and more than half of them are prioritizing expansion in both existing and new markets. Among the latter, they primarily mention Germany, France and the UK. Poland is not the biggest beneficiary of these declarations so far, but it is just behind the leading European markets. E-commerce is not able to fully replace stationary sales. The vast majority of retailers admit that physical stores are much better at building brand loyalty, increasing consumer engagement, facilitating the introduction of new products and attracting new customers. Additionally, they are an element which perfectly supports online sales," Magdalena Frątczak, head of the retail sector at CBRE, said.

(WBJ)