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JD.com Inc. added so much warehouse space in three months that the new construction could cover just about every inch of Monaco, a pace of expansion that rivals growth at Amazon.com Inc.

Real estate prices to build distribution centers near major marine ports and intermodal ramps jumped double-digits in 2017, according to commercial real estate firm CBRE, as demand outstrips supply due to a retail supply chain increasingly tied to e-commerce and speed.

Fetch Robotics has raised $25 million in Series B funding, led by Sway Ventures. In total, the San Jose, Calif., firm has raised $48 million.

Pac-Van has expanded its storage and warehousing operations with two recent acquisitions in the South and Southwest.

Those boxes piling up on your doorstep over the holidays don’t ship from Santa’s workshop. As Americans spend more money shopping online, real estate developers are sinking record amounts of money into new warehouse space, building bigger, taller structures to meet the needs of e-commerce — and the robots that help it along.

Warehousing and distribution firms are beginning to attract more interest from investors as demand for storage space nationwide heats up and competition intensifies among smaller players.

Warehouse operators are looking for ways to automate their operations to meet increasing demands for e-commerce fulfillment services and to compensate for what appears to be a growing shortage of workers.

The U.K.’s biggest online grocer hit a milestone this year: Ocado Group put together an order of 50 items, including produce, meat and dairy, in five minutes.