Clicks to bricks: digitally native brands set to open 850 stores in the next 5 years

Is e-commerce killing brick and mortar stores? One might be led to think so, considering more than 700 stores have closed in the US in 2017, and the investment bank Credit Suisse forecasts a quarter of US shopping malls to shut doors by 2022. It’s not all doom and gloom, however: not only are shoppers still interested in physical stores, but also a number of digitally native brands have been migrating to physical retail. According to investment management company JLL, e-tailers are planning to open about 850 stores in the US over the next five years. JLL released a report about “clicks-to-bricks retailers” this week, in which it evaluates the histories and expansion plans of 100 digital retailers which decided to have a physical presence recently. Here’s what they found out: