MIPIM UK NEWS: Last mile delivery has made the sheds sector an integral part of the shopping experience, a panel heard today at MIPIM UK.
Nick Bailey, managing consultant at Transport Intelligence, compared e-commerce fulfilment centres to traditional logistics distribution and said that what goes on inside both types of industrial properties is “fundamentally different”.
“Each requires different facilities and the role of e-commerce fulfilment is not to get something from A to B, but to facilitate the customer experience,” he said.
“When shoppers order online they get no physical touchpoint. As a result, the retail brand needs to be extended throughout the supply chain.”
Bailey made the comments after Andrew Toy, research manager at EGi, outlined the growth in the e-commerce industry. In November 2007, the online shopping accounted for 4% of all retail in the UK. By November 2015 the market share had increased to 16%.
Commenting on this so-called “shift from pallets to parcels”, James Markby, managing director of Logistics Capital Partners, described the growth in e-commerce and resulting shed requirements as something akin to a “mini industrial revolution” that is already creating new employment opportunities.
“A new e-commerce fulfilment centre of around 800,000 sq ft will, at peak times, create around 2,500 jobs. Companies in this sector are major employers in the industry and the growth has only just started,” he said.
“The biggest constraint for occupiers is access to labour. One agent told me they are having difficulty leasing sheds in the Midlands because occupiers cannot get the staff they need to operate them.”
But Waheed Nazir, strategic director for economy at Birmingham City Council, said that the issue was about land availability rather than demand.
“The positive side of ecommerce logistics facilities is they often recruit for entry level jobs that, with the right training and development, can become careers,” he said.
“But the land supply problem does not go away.”
• Read a full report of the debate here
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