Post-pandemic consumer spending: What are the implications for retailers?

大流行开始时，英国是欧洲领先的电子商务市场，电子商务渗透率为19％。这比下一个最建立的电子商务市场荷兰高出14％。

Closures to physical stores at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic saw UK consumers rapidly increase their online shopping habits, shown in Figure 1.

图1：英国电子商务渗透率（％）

Source: CBRE Research

The UK was well positioned to respond to the sudden jump in consumer shopping habits due to the country’s existing e-commerce infrastructure.CBRE的全球电子商务前景探索了负责电子商务增长的28个因素。该报告使用横截面回归模型确定了基于市场吸收的六个关键因素。这些都是：

1. 城市人口百分比
2. 移动互联网销售比率
3. 借记卡使用或使用数字钱包的使用
4. 该服务l skills of the population
5. 主导电子商务播放器的存在
6. Fixed broadband subscriptions per capita

Out of 48 markets analysed globally, the UK came second for the presence of these drivers. This explains why the UK had the highest e-commerce penetration in Europe at the start of the pandemic, and why penetration rates almost doubled to 37% by Q1 2021.

Since the end of COVID-19 restrictions, the UK has seen its share of e-commerce sales fall to 27% in Q4 2022. When comparing to pre-pandemic trends, current online penetrations are only 2% ahead of expectation – indicating the pandemic didn’t have the lasting effect many thought it may.

So what is driving consumers back to stores? Our recent全球现场工作店调查found consumers still prefer to shop in-store for the majority of product types (Figure 2).

图2：消费者按产品类型（％）按店内购物习惯

Source: CBRE Research

According to our全球现场工作店调查，吸引消费者加入商店的最重要的驱动因素是物理产品 - 具有能力视图，并在购买被认为是消费者喜欢在商店购物的第一原因之前尝试产品。第二个最常见的原因是产品的立即可用性。鉴于消费者认为物理产品的重要性，占用者需要在拥有精制产品组合之间找到平衡，同时还满足消费者即时满足要求。

Figure 3: UK Consumers’ reasons for preferring in-store shopping (%)

Source: CBRE Research

The return of consumers to in-store shopping provides a positive opportunity for occupiers. In ourEMEA零售占用者调查对于消费者参与和交叉销售产品等指标，零售商将物理零售价比在线上更有效。随着物理产品的诱惑，物理零售也可以继续吸引消费者。

There are other benefits for occupiers too. Physical stores can help save costs;the high return rate of items bought online poses a challenge to retailers because of the costs retailers must bear。随着越来越多的零售商开始向消费者收取邮政回报的费用，店内收益的数量应增加。单击和收集设施，即消费者在线购买但在店内收集的设施，为零售商提供了交叉销售产品并进一步与消费者互动的机会。

In conclusion, the pandemic brought a rise in e-commerce penetration due to restrictions imposed on consumers. The high peaks seen in the UK were a result of greater existing drivers of e-commerce growth; however, outside of restrictions, it is evident consumers still value physical retail, with e-commerce penetration rates falling to a level only marginally above the pre-pandemic growth trend. With this context, retailers must harness consumer preference to shop in-store by ensuring product availability and by satisfying consumer preferences to try products before purchasing. In addition, the role of physical retail should not be seen as separate to online retail, as retailers’ evolving omnichannel presence can benefit both physical stores and online sales through Click & Collect services, showrooming and in-store returns.

阅读我们的Global Live-Work-Shop Reportto find out more.