Europe approaches e-commerce tipping point

There is a level of unpredictability with the growth of online shopping and the demand for warehouse space across Europe, reported Savills in its Logistics Market Attractiveness Index.

What will be the rate of growth, which submarkets will benefit the most, which may not see any benefit? With the average yield for European logistics coming in another 70 basis points through last year, a lot of this growth is being priced in already, so investors need to be very confident that it will come in order to get comfortable with the entry pricing.

There will therefore be continued focus on urban locations, on areas with good transport links, where there is cheap and available labor and, increasingly, reliable and high levels of energy supply. At a country level, there will be a focus on high GDP growth, consumer spending habits and technological advancement. At a real estate level, the key metric to monitor is vacancy rates. These are very low across Europe when you consider t