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iforce at Sainsbury’s PROLOGIS eurohub, Corby256,000 sq ftLocation, Location, LocationLike other e-commerce operations, such as ‘dark stores’and parcel hubs, multi-channel distribution centres have aspecific set of requirements and for companies such asiForce, the priority is location.“We need to be close to our client’s warehouses so that wecan replenish our stock quickly and easily,” says Mark Hewitt.“Our business is about throughput rather than storage.”Along with easy motorway access and a good local workforcewith a strong temporary labour pool, multi-channel logisticscompanies are looking for competitive, highly flexible termsand they are starting to move out of the prime markets towardssecondary centres such as Stoke, Stafford and Crewe.While their location requirements are specific, the multi-channeloperators have been less prescriptive about the warehousesthemselves. They look for buildings in a range of sizes andthey do not need highly specialised facilities. High bay storage,for example, is unnecessary and they tend not to specify aparticular number or type of dock door.However, this relatively uncomplicated approach is setto change. “As demand grows, we will need largere-fulfilment warehouses to accommodate the picking area,”continues Mark Hewitt. “Conceptually, multi-level buildingswould be perfect.”E-commerce: Prologis Market Data• Every new € 1 billion of online sales resulted in an extra warehousedemand of approximately 775,000 square feet in the UK, Germanyand France over the past five years• In 2012, 20% of Prologis BTS development in Europe wasfor e-commerce customers• In the UK, 12% of Prologis’ overall portfolio supports e-commerce