Dr. Angelus Bernreuther, Head of Investor Relationship Management at Kaufland talked to Property Forum about the key drivers of retail, the increasingly important role of digitalization and also shared the company’s expansion strategy for the CEE region.

The boundary between online and offline shopping is becoming increasingly vague. There is an evident retail trade trend toward the omnichannel, i.e. combining various sales channels tailored to the consumer's individual needs. This requires the development of e-commerce which has significantly accelerated recently. In the last 5 years, the share of online sales in Central and Eastern Europe grew by 9 pps to 15%, and in 4 years' time is bound to amount to 20%, according to CBRE's forecasts. Poland and Czechia are leaders in terms of online shopping growth in the region. E-commerce's market share in these countries in 2026 may be as high as almost a quarter.

Panattoni has appointed Mathieu Giguere as Director for Key Accounts & New Business Development. He will be responsible for acquiring new business and markets in light of the dynamic growth in online trade.

Czech online retailer alza.cz plans to bring its new self-service concept store to Hungary, local daily Magyar Nemzet reports. Alza opened its first similar store at Prague’s Flora metro station this January. The store, which is able to serve 1,000 costumes daily, operates with no staff and offers 24-hour accessibility. The company invested nearly €200 million in the opening of the store.

Czech online retailer alza.cz has opened a new self-service concept store at Prague’s Flora metro station. The retailer has branded the new concept ‘the store of the future’. The store, which is able to serve 1,000 costumers daily, operates with no staff and offers 24-hour accessibility.

eMAG, Romania’s largest online retailer announced that it is investing €65 million (RON 300 million) in a 120,000 sqm warehouse which will be built in Giurgiu County, the largest of its kind in Southeastern Europe. The warehouse is due for completion in 2019, zf.ro reports.