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To: Glenn D. Rudolph who wrote (25045)	11/8/1998 11:16:00 AM
From: Glenn D. Rudolph	Respond to of 164684

of high rates of home computer ownership. The first on-line-driven warehousing development is under way at Croydon, where supermarket Asda, headed by chief executive Allan Leighton, has acquired a 60,000 square foot property. Now the world's biggest bookseller, the American on-line-based Amazon.com. is to take 40,000 square feet. of offices and warehousing in Slough to process British sales. Asda rival Somerfield is looking for 20 town sites to build up a network of 10,000 square foot. warehouses. The top 250 retailers surveyed by property advisers FD Savills say they expect the internet to expand home shopping dramatically, 85% reporting they will need ware- housing sooner or later. The survey is likely to show that nearly two-thirds of retailers have yet to acquire a net site and point of sale, although over nine in 10 agree that one will be necessary. Estimates of the possible growth of home shopping range between 20% and 40%. Electronic shopping currently accounts for about 1% of retail sales, but Verdict Research sees this as rising to 7% by 2010. More than one in four households in the South-East now has a home computer, compared with 17% in the North-West, although even in the south only 2% have access to the net. In the US, 15% of home computer owners are net-linked, although it might take no more than two years for prosperous European regions to catch up. Although substantial, the impact of on-line shopping upon the property market is likely to be gradual rather explosive. There is no existing model of a British on-line-based distribution system for retailers to follow, FD Savills' Fiona O'Callaghan explained, adding: "While retailers are unanimous that they'll need new space, many are uncertain whether they'll need one national distribution centre, one or two in each region or a network of local distributors." © Associated Newspapers Ltd., 14 October 1998 This Is London