Online Retailers Will Move Much Further Into Bricks-And-Mortar Over The Next 5 Years
The movement of online retailers into physical spaces has a robust future, according to a new report by JLL. Over the next five years, about 850 stores with roots as digitally native brands will open brick-and-mortar shops nationwide.
JLL examined the expansion plans of more than 100 digital retailers to come to that conclusion. The report further found that New York remains the top city for both pop-ups and first permanent locations for online retailers, but coastal markets like Los Angeles and San Francisco are also popular choices.
Almost 60% of first pop-up locations are in New York, JLL says, with LA a distant second at 16.2%. As for first permanent locations, New York is again at the top of the list at 41.3% of such shops, with LA and San Francisco fairly strong choices, with 12% each, the report says.
In New York, SoHo is the capital of pop-ups. Almost half of clicks-to-bricks retailers in New York chose that neighborhood for a first pop-up.
“Despite overall rising vacancies in SoHo, the prime urban corridor remains the destination for online retailers to test new concepts and to woo new and existing customers,” the report says.