The lack of logistics space in Barcelona and Madrid threatens electronic commerce
The rise of electronic commerce has triggered the hiring of logistics spaces. In 2018, 935,000 m2 were contracted in Madrid, 2% more than in 2017 and a new record in the sector for the second consecutive year.
Both the Association of Promoters of Catalonia (APCE) and real estate consultancies warn of the limited availability of industrial buildings in places where demand is higher, such as Barcelona and Madrid.
“If the growth of online shopping keeps pace with the last few years, we will reach a point where there will not be enough urban space and there will be a collapse of orders,” says the professor of Economics and Business Studies at the UOC Josep Maria Català.
According to a report by Zetes, quoted by the UOC, today the leading companies in the market only take 20 minutes to prepare an order and guarantee a complete delivery on the first attempt. Now, a saturation of the deliveries, would put in check these times and force to look for alternative solutions.
The use of big data is one of these possible solutions that are targeted. Català assures that “it would allow the specialization of the warehouses according to the neighborhood where they are and factors such as the per capita income, the volume purchased, the replacement time or the products most demanded by area, hours and type of buyer“. The collaboration between companies is another possible response to this possible collapse.