E-commerce in the United States is growing faster than traditional retail sales, but less appreciated is that the trend is pushing up demand for physical space. Every time a shopper visits a retailer’s website and clicks the “buy” button, the merchandise flows through real brick-and-mortar warehouses and fulfillment centers before it shows up at the door. That has spurred interest in industrial REITs, which last year surprised some analysts by outperforming the broader REIT universe.
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