April 27, 2012 Beijing – Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo are among the top 20 cities where international retailers have the largest presence, according to the 2012 edition of „How Global is the Business of Retail?‟ by leading global property adviser CBRE.
CBRE‟s annual survey - now in its fifth year - mapped the global footprint of 326 of the world‟s top retailers across more than 200 cities to identify trends in global retail expansion at national and local levels. The report found that retailers expanded into a wide range of markets in 2011, with 74% of the countries in the survey seeing at least one new leading international retailer entered the market last year. The overall global footprint of retailers grew 2.1%, similar to the previous year, demonstrating that retailers continue to grow their cross-border businesses in spite of a competitive consumer environment.
On a global basis, London reclaimed the number one position as the most targeted market for international retailers. The city attracts more than half (55.6%) of all international retail brands surveyed after sharing the top spot with Dubai last year. While Dubai (53.8%) still holds considerable global pulling power, it dropped into second position due to a handful of retailers exiting the market. New York (43.9%) remains in third position. The United Kingdom also retains a number one position as the world‟s most popular national market for international retailers with 56.7% of retailers in the survey present there.
Hong Kong continues to be number one among Asian cities and ranked sixth globally with 40.5% of retailers having a presence. Singapore (38.9%) ranks in tenth position, followed by Shanghai (ranked #11), Beijing (ranked #13) and Tokyo (ranked #19). The remainder of the top 20 comprises a mix of traditional and emerging markets, providing an indication of how global the international retail business really is.
"The results show very healthy levels of activity in the key Asian markets as brands continue to look for new growth opportunities. The continuing rise in consumer purchasing power and an ever increasing level of fashion sophistication have attracted the leading global brands to continue investing in new market entry. After opening their first store in a market, many retailers have quickly expanded their footprint in the city, with brands often now represented in 6 or 7 free standing store locations in major cities such as Tokyo, Seoul, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai and Singapore,” stated Sebastian Skiff, Executive Director of CBRE Retail Asia. “We are seeing a continued flow of new brands approaching us for help in targeting the Asia markets and we see strong demand for 2013 from US, European and Australian brands.”
Locally, Chinese cities remained consistent, with Hangzhou again securing a spot in the top 50 (27.9%) and Shenzhen in the top 60 (26.2%). Nanjing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shenyang, Tianjin, Dalian and Suzhou were all featured in the top 100, claiming seven of the last 30 places. Tianjin saw the most movement in the rankings, up six places from the previous year, while the others fluctuated only slightly.
In shopping center development activity, Tianjin topped the chart with 2.5 million square meters currently under construction, followed by Shenyang and Chengdu. It is evident that Chinese cities will continue to dominate over the next few years with eight out of the top 10 most-active global retail development markets present in China. Outside China, the most active global development markets are Abu Dhabi, Hanoi, Kuala Lumpur (Klang Valley) and New Delhi.
Joel Stephen, CBRE Director of Retailer Representation, China, commented: “One of the barriers to entry in the Chinese market is an under-supply of good quality real estate in prime areas within key cities. The opening of major malls in these cities in prime locations typically lead to an influx of new to market entrants in Shanghai and Beijing, or new to city entrants in the next tranche of cities. We are also seeing a batch of at least 10 Chinese cities climbing up the Asian city rankings as the consumer spending power continues to increase rapidly and more high quality developments open.”
Mr. Joel Stephen concluded, “China is here for the long term. It is hard to see how a global retailer could consider themselves truly global without a Chinese strategy. Whilst entry into the Chinese market may be a key component of a retailer‟s future global success, targeting the Chinese consumer abroad is also a fundamental component of a retailer‟s current success.”
About CBRE Group, Inc.
CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBG), a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company headquartered in Los Angeles, is the world‟s largest commercial real estate services firm (in terms of 2011 revenue). The Company has approximately 34,000 employees (excluding affiliates), and serves real estate owners, investors and occupiers through more than 300 offices (excluding affiliates) worldwide. CBRE offers strategic advice and execution for property sales and leasing; corporate services; property, facilities and project management; mortgage banking; appraisal and valuation; development services; investment management; and research and consulting. Please visit our website at www.cbre.com.
About CBRE Group, Inc.
CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBG), a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company headquartered in Los Angeles, is the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm (in terms of 2014 revenue). The Company has more than 70,000 employees (excluding affiliates), and serves real estate owners, investors and occupiers through more than 400 offices (excluding affiliates) worldwide. CBRE offers strategic advice and execution for property sales and leasing; corporate services; property, facilities and project management; mortgage banking; appraisal and valuation; development services; investment management; and research and consulting. Please visit our website at www.cbre.com.
