After the extremely difficult year of 2022, the Ukranian retail market has finally managed to improve its performance. Having talked to key market players about trends, tendencies and forecasts, Iryna Nastych summarised the situation in an article prepared by the Ukrainian Real Estate Club for Property Forum.

How does hyper-personalisation differ from personalisation which has ruled the retail market for years? The former leverages transactional and behavioural data and AI systems to foresee consumer needs more precisely, to reach out with a bespoke and personalised offer, and to deepen existing brand-customer relationships and build new ones. Although hyper-personalisation-based solutions in marketing strategies were initially intended for online shopping, this trend is now opening up new opportunities in multichannel retail. Cushman & Wakefield points out the growing role of such solutions for shopping centre retailers in an increasingly competitive market environment.

Cushman & Wakefield has released a summary of retail market conditions in Poland. At the end of Q2 2023, there was close to 500,000 sqm of retail space under construction, seven international brands debuted on the Polish market in the three months to June while the expansion of retail parks continued apace. On the other hand, both retail tenants and landlords continued to face high inflation which impacted their real turnover levels.

Austrian company XXXLutz plans to build a new store in the north of the Slovak capital near the new Bory Hospital, writes HNonline.sk.

Four new retail projects with a combined leasable area of 30,000 sqm have been delivered in four smaller Romanian cities in the first half of 2023. Giurgiu, Călărași, Dej and Vaslui are the cities which benefited from these new investments, while the new supply will be significantly more substantial in the second half of the year, when almost 260,000 sqm of retail spaces are due to be completed, according to data from Cushman & Wakefield Echinox. 

The retail industry attracted 21% of the total investment volume recorded in the first half of 2023, which was 7% higher than the same period last year, according to data from CBRE. At the same time, the segment accounted for around €39 million of new investments. 

The investment transaction activity in Romania recorded total volumes of close to €170 million in the first half of 2023, which is down by around 50% compared to the same period, but the transactions could reach around €700 million by the end of 2023, according to Colliers data. 

According to data from Cushman & Wakefield, Lublin is the leading Polish city in terms of retail space saturation for schemes exceeding 5,000 sqm. Its space saturation rate is 1,094 sqm per 1,000 inhabitants compared to 831 sqm for Warsaw – the most mature retail market in Poland. Paradoxically, this does not preclude further growth for developers active in this market. There is still room in the city for traditional retail parks that are developed in alternative locations - frequently on the outskirts – and are anchored by tenants offering convenience shopping geared to the day-to-day needs of inhabitants.

CC Real has commenced its extensive €20 million refurbishment of City Center one Split, due for completion by the end of Q2 2024. Key upgrades will include the creation of a first-of-its-kind entertainment and leisure area for Croatia, lighting and interior design improvements, brand-new outdoor spaces, and measures to reduce energy consumption. More than 7,000 sqm of retail units will be reshaped to improve clustering, and more than 10,000 sqm of premises will be renovated.

LCP Properties has begun the process of structuring its portfolio with the official launch of the M Park brand. As part of the first stage of the rebranding, LCP has selected 20 out of a total of more than 95 of its existing projects in the country for changes. For three of them, previously operating under the Echo name - in Tarnów, Radom and Piotrków Trybunalski - the process has just been completed. The first stage of image changes within the LCP portfolio will last until the end of this year.