An unknown quantity facing the industrial logistics sector will be the trend that will follow the displacement of the logistics footprint of the cities towards the periphery.

Motivated by the pressure of costs and the scarcity of urban land, in the last decades industrial warehouses of 20,000 to 100,000 m2 have been developed, safe, technical, formal and with better tax incentives, but further away from densified areas.

From these warehouses, inventory is distributed widely to multiple delivery points in the cities, reducing the need for large urban logistics areas. Although it sacrifices distribution times in the long term, it reduces logistics costs and improves the reliability of deliveries.

Check here: Large investment in industrial infrastructure, construction begins on 765,000 m2 in April-May 2023

But, although this configuration was justified in the pre-pandemic context, when customers were willing to wait additional days for merchandise, in the post-pandemic world it represents a major challenge for the profitability of e-commerce.

The patience of the clients was exchanged for the immediacy of having the products even the same day, and with the best possible traceability and presentation. To cost-effectively deliver on the new promises, the logistics industry's reaction was to retool networks as they exist, without radical changes to the infrastructure.

According to the opinion of the company Melonn, a specialist in fulfillment, there are four highly desirable characteristics of the infrastructure: location based on allowing same-day delivery, maintaining accessibility for quick entries and exits with vehicles of different sizes, having a storage option at height and amenities to comply with storage regulations and have the flexibility to expand or contract capacity between 500 and 10,000 m2, or a mix between a central warehouse and other peripheral ones, with low turnover inventory, for timely replenishment.

Although the answer does not seem to be necessarily extreme, the ideal solution for e-commerce seems to require a middle ground, between balancing costs and inventory availability. However, the current supply on the market does not fully satisfy these conditions.

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At one extreme are the self-storage solutions of the sharing economy, and at the other extreme is the traditional long-term lease or ownership model, where there is little flexibility to expand or contract as needed, and companies must assume the financial and demand risk.

In this context, it would be ideal to have a model similar to office coworking, but for equipped warehouses, with modular and scalable warehouses; with minimum height endowments, kitchens, bathrooms, transit areas according to storage regulatory requirements, but with flexibility to customize endowments according to the needs of the operation.

The existence of a real estate logistics model that meets these conditions can close the supply gap in e-commerce and become an additional driver for this industry, which continues to grow in Latin America.

In Solili you can consult industrial warehouses available in Mexico City, Querétaro and Puebla

Original note