Setting Your Sites On Your Best Customers

By Devon Wolfe, Pitney Bowes Business Insight

Picking a successful retail location is a complex decision that requires layers of data and insight to deliver optimal results. With strong external influences including in-market competitors and dynamic neighborhood demographics, it can be easy to miss the mark when it comes to retail site selection.

Criteria for site selection vary widely among retailers; some use a straightforward requirement such as 50,000 people within a 3-mile radius, while others have constructed complex algorithms that draw upon dozens of data layers such as demographics, traffic patterns, competitive sites, product sales potential, and household income. Regardless of the approach, there are overarching best practices to keep retailers on course.