A survey of the practice’s global retail clients found that 80% agreed that they were worried about continued digital expansion in the sector with 73% agreeing that the cost of development land was also a concern.

These two issues came ahead of the regulatory and planning regime (68%) and vacancy rates (63%) when asked to agree or disagree with a series of statements about what worried them and what reassured them most in the sector.

When identifying what reassured them, the survey found that the evolution of ‘click and collect’ (83%) and the growth of F&B within retail developments (83%) were the most reassuring innovations in the sector, closely followed by the growth of price conscious retail (73%).

“However, while online may only amount to around a fifth of market share, that digital experience has transformed customer expectations with developers and investors now having to continually innovate to ensure their assets stay relevant.

“Our experience is that we are now seeing a wave of development activity both for new retail projects and respositioning existing schemes so it is no surprise to land prices and planning concerns feature prominently in this latest research.”

Read the full report: What Keeps Developers Awake At Night?