Prologis Inc., one of the world’s largest warehouse owners, has agreed to buy Liberty Property Trust in an all-stock transaction valued at $9.7 billion, extending its reach in markets such as Chicago, Houston and Southern California.

Retailers and logistics firms are establishing warehouses closer to large urban centers to keep up with rising consumer demand for faster delivery of products ordered online, industry experts said.

Blackstone Group Inc. has acquired more than 1 billion square feet of logistics space since 2010 as part of the firm’s global bet that the rise of e-commerce is driving demand for final-mile real estate.

Amazon’s newest facility, in Oklahoma City, received its first package Aug. 25. The Amazon fulfillment center is the first of its kind in Oklahoma. It functions as a hub for storage and delivery of products shipped through Amazon and works in conjunction with existing Amazon delivery and sortation centers in the metro area.

The mall is now a warehouse, and Blackstone Group is betting $18.7 billion on the shift. That’s how much the alternative investment manager is paying for 179 million square feet of urban logistics properties — the warehouses used by Amazon and other retailers to fulfill orders from online shoppers.

E-commerce, growing at 15% a year, is driving a second boom in Georgia’s robust warehousing and logistics industry, which employs about 118,000 packers and material handlers across the state.

Nestle SA’s U.S. unit will lay off about 4,000 workers as it stops delivering frozen pizza and ice cream directly to stores and instead transitions to a warehouse model that’s becoming an industry standard for major food companies looking to trim costs.

Flowspace, a technology firm that helps businesses manage warehousing and fulfillment services, received $12 million in funding from an investment group led by Canvas Ventures.

Stord Inc., an Atlanta-based startup that offers a technology platform for warehouse operators to market unused space, has received $12.4 million in funding from a group of investors that includes Tom Noonan and Chris Klaus, Dynamo, Rise of the Rest Fund and Engage Ventures.