More than half of retailers across Europe are estimated to be planning on expanding their store footprints over the next year.

CBRE has surveyed more than 50 retailers with over 70,000 stores worldwide, and found that 57 percent of respondents plan to grow their store portfolio in 2022, demonstrating the importance of a physical store in the overall retail offering. A further 37 percent of these respondents want to open in new markets, with the top three locations identified as Germany, France and the United Kingdom.

The report also highlighted the role a physical store plays in enhancing a retailers’ online presence, with 64 percent saying that the presence of brick-and-mortar stores increases their online sales within a local catchment area. Retailers rate brick-and-mortar retail as more effective than online across all metrics, demonstrating the value of physical retail in creati