Warehouse sector poised to be a winner amid COVID-19 outbreak

Physical distancing and store closures have created a boom in demand for e-commerce fulfillment, benefiting the industrial sector.

“COVID-19 will likely exacerbate several trends that were already in place prior to the pandemic,” says Nancy Lashine, founder and managing partner of Park Madison Partners. She says the industrial sector should continue to see steadily increasing demand as more consumers shop online — a move that is likely to become permanent.

E-commerce penetration is substantially up, but “when shops reopen, we do not expect a drop in e-commerce activity,” says Jonathan Pharris, president of CapRock Partners. Once consumers have experience with online shopping, they are likely to continue doing it.

He describes the continued acceleration of online shopping as “a paradigm shift that is going to benefit industrial.”

“Stay-at-home orders have forced consumers to expand their online buying list, including items such as groceries