The retail sector is adapting to new challenges and optimizing its logistics for more efficient operations
The retail sector is on the brink of a new era, where efficient retail logistics play a crucial role in meeting customer needs and reducing operational costs. The Cushman & Wakefield Retail Logistics study reveals how modern logistics strategies—from large-scale warehouses to fast delivery—are transforming shopping both in stores and online. These innovations not only provide greater convenience for customers but also ensure more sustainable and efficient operations for retail chains.
The study focuses on individual components of the supply chain and examines the factors influencing them to meet the evolving needs of consumers and minimize service costs. The research highlights the critical role industrial properties play for retailers.
Retail logistics is driven by two main principles: maximizing customer experience and minimizing costs. These principles form the foundation for optimizing logistics networks and systems, which must be capable of responding to dynamic market changes.
Maximizing Customer Experience: Greater Convenience Through Improved Product Availability
Providing outstanding customer experience is now a top priority for retailers. They focus on ensuring that products are available exactly where and when customers need them, whether in physical stores or online. To meet growing consumer demands, retailers offer a wide range of delivery options. Customers can choose the delivery method, preferred carrier, and time that suits them best. Flexibility has become the standard that sets the best retailers apart from the rest.
Our study shows that Czech customers do not have a clearly preferred delivery method. Some prefer packages delivered directly to their homes, while others favor picking up their orders at collection points or in stores. In contrast, in most Western European countries, such as Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, and the United Kingdom, home delivery is the clear favorite, chosen by up to 75% of customers. Delivery preferences also vary by age group. Older generations, like Boomers, tend to favor traditional approaches and prefer home delivery. Meanwhile, younger generations, such as Gen Z, opt for more modern solutions and often choose pickup locations outside their homes.
Jan Kotrbáček, Partner & Head of Retail Agency CEE at Cushman & Wakefield: “Economic data shows that consumers remain the driving force of the economy, and retailers should continue to support their appetite. Careful planning and implementing logistics-supporting strategies are essential for merchants to avoid disruptions to the in-store customer experience. This is particularly relevant to shipping, pickup, and returns in-store. Retailers need a well-thought-out omnichannel strategy, which, by combining physical and online stores, helps meet the majority of customer needs. Showrooms, for example, allow retailers to maintain smaller inventories while offering customers an enhanced shopping experience and overall satisfaction.”
Minimizing Service Costs
Optimizing logistics processes not only brings greater efficiency to retailers but also results in significant cost savings. By simplifying and improving logistics operations, retail chains can better manage product movement, enhance return processes, and make more effective use of their workforce. Beyond cost savings, an increasing number of companies are focusing on sustainability. By optimizing transportation—such as shortening delivery routes or sharing transport capacities—they reduce emissions and contribute to environmental protection.
Graph 1: Preferred Methods of Product Returns Across European Countries
Source: Cushman & Wakefield
The growing popularity of online shopping is driving retailers to invest in larger warehouses located closer to cities. These warehouses enable faster delivery and greater product availability for customers. Additionally, many retailers are adapting their stores to handle online orders directly from the premises, saving time and costs while offering customers convenient options, such as in-store pickup. This hybrid model combines the best of both worlds and meets the needs of the modern shopper.
Logistics properties are playing an increasingly important role in retail logistics. Retailers are focusing more frequently on large facilities exceeding 50,000 sq m, which serve as hubs for inventory consolidation and allow for efficient warehouse management across multiple countries. At the same time, demand is growing for smaller facilities that support so-called “last-mile logistics,” delivering directly to the customer. These facilities shorten delivery times and contribute to faster and more convenient service for end customers.
Graph 2: Leasing of Logistics Properties in Europe by Retailers, Facilities Over 50,000 sq m
Source: Cushman & Wakefield
Jiří Kristek, Head of the Industrial and Retail Warehousing Team: “Since 2021, we have observed that logistics properties are among the leading sectors in leased industrial real estate. Optimizing the entire supply chain plays a significant role for all stakeholders, and continuous improvement and the development of new concepts, such as parcel lockers or collection points in shopping centers, retail parks, or on streets, can be crucial for all involved. Additionally, the trend of centralization is evident, where multiple warehouses are consolidated into one new, larger facility, achieving much greater storage efficiency and economies of scale. A secondary effect of this trend is that new warehouses increasingly meet stricter ESG standards.”
