E-commerce firms second largest drivers of warehousing space: Study

E-commerce companies have become the second largest consumers of warehouses last year after third party logistics, said a new study.

The report by US based property consultancy CBRE also states that 2 million sq. ft. of warehousing space was taken up by e-commerce firms in 2015.

"This is a significant jump as the share of the sector rose from a meager 2 per cent of the total warehousing demand in 2012, to around 22 per cent during 2015. On the same lines, office space demand from e-commerce firms witnessed a 170 per cent year-on-year growth-from 0.7 million sq. ft. in 2014 to 2 million sq. ft. in 2015," CBRE said.

Anshuman Magazine, chairman and managing director of CBRE, South Asia said: "Investors have begun to show more interest as the growth story of the sector continues. The sector saw significant activity during 2015, mainly driven by existing e-commerce companies looking to ramp up operations, while new players entered the market. Along with e-tailing groups(companies or organizations), substantial funding also flowed into the e-commerce logistics segment, which registered investments of close to US$ 262 million during 2015."