Accelerated e-commerce adoption and higher inventory levels have the potential to generate 400 million square feet or more of additional US logistics real estate demand or 150 to 200 million square feet per year for two to three years, Prologis reports. E-commerce requires more than three times the logistics space of brick-and-mortar sales. This persistently high ratio supports the need for additional e-fulfillment space should e-commerce penetration retain gains made during the stay-at-home phase.

These trends are borne out in the REIT's third quarter activity. E-commerce represented 37% of Prologis' rental revenue compared to its historical average of 21%. It reports that demand for space is coming from both omnichannel and pure online retailers, along with third-party logistics firms and Amazon.com. Amazon accounts for about 13% of the company's new leasing.

To keep up with demand, Prologis has completed $25 billion of investment activity in 2020.

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Lisa Brown

Lisa Brown is an editor for the south and west regions of GlobeSt.com. She has 25-plus years of real estate experience, with a regional PR role at Grubb & Ellis and a national communications position at MMI. Brown also spent 10 years as executive director at NAIOP San Francisco Bay Area chapter, where she led the organization to achieving its first national award honors and recognition on Capitol Hill. She has written extensively on commercial real estate topics and edited numerous pieces on the subject.