While European countries dominate the target destinations this year, mainland China is the top target market in the Asia-Pacific region (Apac) and the fourth-most-popular globally, with 27 per cent of retailers looking to expand there.

This is followed by Hong Kong in sixth position (24 per cent), Japan in seventh (22 per cent) and Singapore in ninth (21 per cent).

The top three globally were Germany (35 per cent), France (33 per cent) and the UK (29 per cent), according to the real-estate consulting firm’s study of more than 150 major international brands based in the Americas, Apac and Emea (Europe, the Middle East and Africa).

• Mainland China and Hong Kong maintained fourth and sixth places while Japan (seventh), Singapore (ninth) and Australia (11th) all rose in the ranking from 13th, 18th and 15th.

• Most markets saw increased interest for 2016 versus 2015, with the exceptions of China and South Korea, which softened somewhat.

• Interest in Southeast Asia surged, with Malaysia (10 per cent), Indonesia (9 per cent), Thailand (8 per cent), Vietnam (8 per cent) and the Philippines (8 per cent) all receiving more than double the interest they saw in 2015, when all markets secured between 1 and 3 per cent.

When questioned about the risk factors for them in the coming year, brands indicated that escalating real-estate costs (56 per cent) and unclear economic prospects (42 per cent) continued to be at the forefront of their minds.

“We’re seeing more of a challenging economic environment, and concerns such as high operating costs and a lack of quality space mean retailers are somewhat warier this year,” Henry Chin, CBRE’s head of Apac research, said yesterday.

“However, even as markets such as [mainland] China and Hong Kong are seeing a slowdown, we see increasing numbers of opportunistic retailers looking to enter markets like Hong Kong, supported by strong underlying consumer demand.

“Japan and Australia remain attractive, while Southeast Asia showed strong growth due to opportunities for retailers around an expanding middle class and stronger economic growth.”

Joel Stephen, senior director and head of retailer representation in Asia, said: “There are still opportunities for retailers to grow their business in the Asia region – as underscored by the region having four of the top 10 most popular destinations worldwide.

“The goal now for all brick-and-mortar retailers is to build an engaging offer that encourages people to stay longer and spend more.”

About 83 per cent of brands suggest their plans for physical store expansion this year will not be affected by the growth of e-commerce.

From a retailer perspective, only 22 per cent of the brands are concerned about stiff competition from online retailing as a threat to their business.

Retailers are cautiously optimistic about expanding their physical sales network.

About 17 per cent have large-scale ambitions, with many retailers looking to open more than 40 stores this year, up from 9 per cent last year. Two-thirds are looking to open up to 20 stores.

“A physical store presence in key locations is still critical to the strength of a brand’s image,” Stephen said. “Stores still need to create an emotional affinity with shoppers, and customers still feel a need to go into stores, to physically touch a product and enjoy the feel-good factor associated with a particular brand experience.

“The store is integral to the shopping journey and can be used in different ways, such as to click and collect, research of the product or brand, or to test the product. It isn’t solely about the transactional side.”

A new trend saw a fifth of brands, largely from the Americas and Emea, stating their intention to expand into travel hubs – such as airports and train stations – this year, as this will give them access to high footfall in busy locations.

However, for Apac-originating retailers, shopping malls remained the most preferred destination by far at close to 90 per cent.

While globally the key concern for brands in lease negotiations was “lease length”, Apac-originated retailers were most concerned with turnover rent clauses as the most important characteristic.