"We live in an omnichannel world both individually and at business level, so our services also become omnichannel. The purpose of today's launch is to serve the end consumer and meet their needs, wherever they are, offline or online. Regardless of the environment of interaction with our clients' products, the real estate solution remains essential to get close to the consumer", said Răzvan Iorgu, managing director, CBRE Romania.
The new range of services launched by CBRE Romania through the multidisciplinary retail and industrial teams integrates the solutions already offered to retailers in the over 17 years of experience of the local team. 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 comes at a key time, with the fourth quarter being of major importance in the amount of annual online retail sales. The period October - December generates over 35% of total online retail sales, due to the Black Friday and Christmas campaigns, a situation that is also reflected 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. In turn, the dynamics of the consumer's presence in physical stores brings with it a need for efficiency and optimization of stocks, in real time. The need for storage space becomes a key factor to serve the consumer: online order delivery times and the shopping experience in the physical space depend on the quality of the logistics process. To give you an idea of the demand, I can tell you that 5 out of 10 retailers we are talking to ask us for details for both retail and industrial spaces", added Răzvan Iorgu.
The retail team of CBRE Romania, led by Carmen Ravon, advised transactions with international brands in various fields of activity, being also involved in mergers and acquisitions, such as the takeover of the Maya supermarket chain by the Profi chain. On the industrial market, through the team coordinated by Andrei Jerca, CBRE advised rental transactions with storage spaces for many offline and online retailers, for distribution, transport and logistics companies, as well as transactions with industrial spaces for production companies. Recent customers in the industrial department include Carrefour, PepsiCo, Sameday, NDB Logistics, DS Smith and E Van Wijk.
Carmen Ravon and Andrei Jerca have a real estate experience of over 13 years each, during which time they worked in both consulting and development, respectively real estate management.
The market of modern industrial spaces in Romania will exceed the level of 5 million sqm by the end of the year, CBRE data show. Compared to the Romanian population, this volume represents an industrial stock of 260 sq m per thousand inhabitants, below the level in the region (347 sq m per thousand inhabitants in Hungary or 510 sq m per thousand inhabitants in Poland), with potential for further growth. Regarding retail spaces, according to CBRE, the modern retail stock was estimated at the end of the third quarter at 3.84 million sq m of shopping centers and retail parks. (source: CBRE)
