The continued dominance of e-commerce, coupled with shifts in inventory models and supply chain configurations, will continue to be major tailwinds for the industrial sector as we head further into 2022, according to a new analysis  from Green Street.

Shifting consumer preferences made e-commerce the name of the game amidst the pandemic, a change which bodes well for industrial since e-commerce sales require three times the amount of warehouse space as brick and mortar sales. Green Street analysts predict e-commerce will continue to grow "at a healthy clip in the foreseeable future," buoyed by recent supply chain challenges which may incentivize retailers to turn toward "just in case" inventory models.  That, in turn, calls for more demand for warehouse space.

Potential reconfigurations of supply chain models like reshoring may also be a tailwind for the sector, Green Street said.