What retail apocalypse? A Delphi forecast of commercial space demand in the Toronto region

Christopher Daniel and Tony Hernandez

Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 2024, vol. 77, issue C

Abstract: The retail and shopping centre industries have been subject to cyclical predictions of disruption at the hands of E-commerce for many years. The prevailing narrative has focused on declining demand for physical retail space and the so-called ‘retail apocalypse’. This research investigates the opinions of industry on this issue using an expert panel mini-Delphi survey method based on the Toronto, Canada study region. The research investigates predictions of E-commerce growth and resulting impacts on retail space demand by subsector. Findings indicate that while industry experts forecast large E-commerce growth, the effects on retail space demand are expected to be muted. Some variation is expected by retail subsector, but these findings generally contrast with previous cyclical predictions of apocalyptic declines in retail space demand.

Keywords: E-commerce; Retail space; Stores; Retail apocalypse; Delphi (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969698923004216
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:joreco:v:77:y:2024:i:c:s0969698923004216

DOI: 10.1016/j.jretconser.2023.103670

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services is currently edited by Harry Timmermans

More articles in Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().