Press Release

31.08.2012

"Our platform makes existing space transparent" an interview with Philipp Junikiewicz, Project Manager Logistics Properties and Land

The online platform www.lagerflaeche.de has successfully established itself on the market with a special offering for the marketing of warehouse, hall, production and logistics space. The online services are actively supported by additional consulting and support services. In this interview, Philipp Junikiewicz, project manager at the portal operator, Düsseldorf-based e-commerce specialist Logvocatus GmbH, explains the strategy.

Mr Junikiewicz, the company has been operating the www.lagerflaeche.de portal since 2001. What exactly do you offer customers there?

The property exchange www.lagerflaeche.de brings together supply and demand in the areas of land, warehouse and production properties and contract logistics services. We have defined various packages that are tailored to the needs of different users. These range from the logistics provider package for contract logistics to the needs of property owners with one or more locations in a professional or carefree package with a fixed price per month.

In addition - and this is a very important success factor - the customer can take advantage of additional services that go beyond the pure portal services on request. Our property and logistics specialists support the marketing of properties through telephone and e-mail marketing, they advise customers on the valuation of a property, management or the equipment required for warehouse logistics, for example. They also organise tendering processes for customers or provide on-site advice. These additional services are also commission-free and are charged on an hourly basis. We always act as a neutral partner. We are not to be confused with a traditional estate agent.

Who is the service aimed at?

Primarily freight forwarders and logistics service providers, manufacturing companies and retailers use the platform, but also property agents, project developers and owners.

Do you see yourself in direct competition with other property portals?

By specialising in the marketing of warehouses, production and logistics space and by providing active support and advice, www.lagerflaeche.de stands out from the general property portals. We offer our customers high quality and up-to-date entries, so they can search very quickly and specifically. We serve the big players in the market as well as private owners. We would like to emphasise that the small players are an important part of the platform and that they do not get lost among the big players as they do on other platforms. The "small" or rather, the private owners, have the advantage with us that you cannot find any duplicate entries on our portal. This avoids a property being published by different providers with false information.

In addition, the exposé views show that specialised portals such as www.LAGERflaeche.de sometimes have higher access figures and longer dwell times than comparable "general" portals such as immonet.de, immowelt.de, etc..

Do other portal service providers also offer additional services such as advice, on-site service, or is that a USP?

Try calling a property portal and asking who the owner is and whether they could put you in touch with them. Or ask for more information about the property! That is the big difference to us, you are welcome to contact us! An active platform like ours thrives on the transparency of information that we provide. If we don't have the information, in the ideal case it's just a phone call and we can help. An important aspect of this is that our portal is commission-free.

Thanks to our expertise on the property side and on the logistics and user side, we can deal with any problem in a targeted manner. Our aim is to offer solutions that go beyond pure portal services. Through our additional services, such as working with co-operation partners, the benefits for our customers can go even further.

What does active support look like in concrete terms?

Comparable portals only offer a platform for uploading properties or exposés. Our portal actively works with customers to acquire searches. Conversely, an owner does not have to wait for an interested party to contact them. By looking at current searches, they can choose a tenant! On the other hand, especially in the logistics sector, the seeker has an order in six months and has to find a suitable space by then. However, this does not work in practice - what owner wants to take the risk of leaving their property empty for six months to wait for the logistics provider? At this point, we offer our users the opportunity to approach each other with complete transparency.

Will the supply also change after the increase in demand in 2010/2011?

That is indeed becoming apparent. Due to the increase in demand after the crisis in 2010/2011, there will be a shortage of space in the order of 10,000 square metres or more in the future. The reason for this is relatively simple: in the past, the market has focussed heavily on large project developers. However, in times of crisis, they have often put a stop to investments and no longer developed speculatively. Of course, there will continue to be project developments, such as the Amazon warehouse in Rheinberg, and long-term demand can still be satisfied. But what happens to users who need a short-term solution? Our aim is to start at precisely this point, recognise market developments and create solutions for customers through market transparency. The focus here is on existing space that is otherwise hardly recognised on the market.

Which companies are among the users of www.lagerflaeche.de?

Well-known logistics companies such as Dachser, DHL, Geodis, Hellmann and Kühne & Nagel are regular customers. The platform is also becoming increasingly interesting for property owners, with companies such as Hansteen, Sirius Facility GmbH, PropertyAMI and, on the other hand, estate agents such as Realogis Immobilien Düsseldorf and Strabag making targeted use of our services.

Are you planning further expansion steps for the future?

Yes, it is part of our corporate philosophy to invest in further growth. Before we implemented the English language version, www.lagerflaeche.de was converted to a newly developed database technology and redesigned with a new graphical user interface. This has further increased user-friendliness. In addition to increased investment in advertising, we will continue to work on expanding the technology and functionality on www.lagerflaeche.de.

Contact:
Philipp Junikiewicz
-Project ManagerLogistics Properties and Land-

LAGERflaeche- Ihre Serviceplattform für Lagerlogistik
Hohe Strasse 48a/ Siegfried-Klein-Str. 7
40213 Düsseldorf

Phone:   +49 (0) 211-416696-68
Fax:    +49 (0) 211-416696-61

E-mail: philipp(dot)junikiewicz(at)lagerflaeche(dot)de
Internet: www.lagerflaeche.de