Cross-border retail activity slows in 2015

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
May 20, 2016

According to a new CBRE report on cross-border retail activity, global expansion volumes slowed down in 2015 but retailers still have the globalisation of their physical footprint on the agenda.

Among fashion categories, retailers from the denim & value sector showed last year the highest progress in footprint at both country and city level, growing by 2.6% and 2.4% respectively. The acceleration of their expansion was explained by the universal appeal of their brands and the price point, as they can they can expand into smaller cities to target mass markets.

Meanwhile, luxury fashion retailers grew by 2% at country level and 1.5% at city level, reflecting on their need to maintain a level of exclusivity.

Retailers from the specialist clothing sector grew 2% at country level and 1.3% at city level, while mid-range fashion retailers expanded their footprint by 1.8% and 1.6% respectively.

In terms of markets, the overall level of cross-border retailer activity in 2015 increased by 3.1% on year-on-year. Retailers have been targeting a diverse set of markets, however, they have been focussed on tried and tested locations, such as London, Paris, Singapore and Hong Kong.

London remained the most popular city for retailers looking to expand their store networks despite the highly competitive retail environment and the high rental levels. Dubai and Shanghai also retained their positions in second and third place respectively.

New York ranked fourth, followed by Moscow and Singapore in joint fifth. Hong Kong, Paris, Tokyo, Beijing and Berlin make up the remainder of the top 10.

General retailers from the US continued to dominate the cross-border retail expansion, followed by Italy, United Kingdom, France and Japan.  

The report “How Global is the Business of Retail CBRE” analysed the activity from 334 retailers across Luxury & Business, Mid-Range Fashion, Value & Denim, Specialist Clothing, Coffee & Restaurants, Supermarkets, Consumer Electronics, Homeware & Department Stores and Other.