NEWS · 2 October 2026
CBRE survey: 65% of major retailers plan to grow their store networks
CBRE’s European Retail Occupier Survey 2026 finds that 65% of 76 large retailers plan to open more stores. More than half already use AI, mostly for product recommendations and customer-service chatbots.
What CBRE found
On 30 September 2026, real estate adviser CBRE published its European Retail Occupier Survey 2026. It polled 76 pan-European and global retailers from 11 sectors that together run about 150,000 stores. Expansion remains their main strategy. 65% plan to grow their store networks in the near term, and after closures CBRE puts the potential at up to 8,000 extra stores across Europe. For 91%, physical retail stays central to the business.
More retailers are moving from testing AI to using it. The share that has rolled out AI tools has more than doubled since the last survey, from 25% in 2024 to 52%, and another 43% are exploring them. The most common uses are personalised product recommendations (69%) and customer-service chatbots (63%).
Why this matters for online sellers
Large chains are opening stores and investing in digital tools at the same time. 76% of respondents rate their stores as more effective than online channels for engaging customers, and 56% say the same about sales productivity. A brand that sells only online is therefore up against retailers that combine shops, digital channels and AI-driven service. The two most common AI uses are within reach of smaller shops as well: recommendation tools and chatbots are not limited to big budgets.
What to do now
CBRE’s key findings are free to read on its website; for the full data, the company refers readers to its team. In your own shop, test AI product recommendations or a chatbot for routine questions. If you compete with store-based chains for the same customers, shipping speed and returns are where you cannot afford weak spots.
TREEBERG stores goods in Nordhorn, Germany, and ships with DHL, UPS and DPD to more than 20 countries. 98% of orders leave the warehouse within 24 hours, and returns are processed within 24 hours with photo proof. Sellers see orders, stock, shipments and returns in the THub dashboard – more on storage and shipping.