Stephanie McMahon
Head of Research
The last decade has seen the internet begin to fundamentally shift how we work, play, shop and interact with one another – with the rapid adoption of smartphones and tablets in recent years this has accelerated behavioural changes exponentially. Stephanie McMahon, head of Research at Strutt & Parker, explains how this will affect property.
The last decade has seen the internet begin to fundamentally shift how we work, play, shop and interact with one another – with the rapid adoption of smartphones and tablets in recent years this has accelerated behavioural changes exponentially. Stephanie McMahon, head of Research at Strutt & Parker, explains how this will affect property.
Although the impact of the internet economy is already evident, its growth has a long way to run and is likely to continue to affect the wider economy in the future beyond what we are able to speculate. Alongside the internet, shifting demographics have a fundamental role to play. Today we have, for the first time in recent history, four generations within the workplace. In the next decade we will witness Generation-Y become the dominant group, and increasingly influence the consumer economy as their spending power increases.
All very interesting I am sure you will agree, but what has it really got to do with property? Putting residential to one side, I am on this occasion going to focus on the main commercial sectors; offices, industrial & logistics and retail.
Looking to the last first, the retail impact is perhaps the most obvious. The use of the internet has fundamentally changed our high streets, shopping centres and retail experience. Retailers are working harder than ever to entice you into their stores, to provide you with a service and experience which will build your loyalty and make you return to them, rather than simply logon. Today the level of food and beverage businesses within retail environments is higher than ever and promotions and offers are pushed to you via beacons within the store. Retail still has quite an evolution to go.
Logistics are changing to react to the changes in retail. You may or may not have considered how supermarkets are able to get the goods to your door, or how fashion retailers can have that pair of shoes delivered to you within 12 hours. This is complex. It requires highly efficient supply chains and warehouses to manage goods. As we move more and more to the online environment for our goods, the complexity of logistics and the physical spaces they require will increase.
Thirdly to offices. With four generations under one roof, the office is having to adapt to both an ageing demographic and also a new breed of workers who like to collaborate and work alongside each other more than ever before. Offices are slowly becoming collegiate places where people can interact more easily; in some cases they are “permeable”, meaning that the general public are able to access them more easily and like-minded groups can work together. Sound a bit pie in the sky? I’ll admit it is not common yet, however the rise of the likes of WeWork, a collaborative serviced office provider, are accelerating the trend.
If you want to know more about what how we think the macro trends will influence property over the coming decade, we have just launched a major piece of research which you can download for free.