During a conference held in Washington, D.C. by the Urban Land Institute, for example, I heard a panel of representatives from North American property management firms discuss the impact of e-commerce on office and industrial properties. E-commerce will create an enormous demand for warehouse space, as the whole distribution chain has contracted and increased in velocity. Inventory is all done electronically, using bar-codes, and it speeds everything up with greater accuracy. He also predicted that more retail space will move to warehouse, as will some manufacturing space. Additionally, the product distributors will have to change the way their systems operate.
Distributors are accustomed to moving products in bulk, on huge pallets.
E-commerce has changed that. As a result of this focus on speed and delivery, the warehouses of the future will be near major transportation modes, such as airports, shipping ports or railroad stations, rather than in the suburbs or in a rural area. Peter Bedford, CEO of Bedford Properties Investors, Inc., said that warehouses will also need larger turnaround areas, as trucks today are longer. They'll need flexibility for smaller vans, car parking and large trucks' turning radius. Every aspect of their business moves at a very fast speed.