Retail site selection is an analytical process that’s part of the strategic decision-making of a business when selecting the right location for a brick-and-mortar store. The right store location will maximize exposure and visibility to daily traffic, which ultimately translates to increased sales.
The retail site selection process and how it’s conducted will have a massive impact on store profitability and business success in the long term. That’s why it’s important to consider numerous different factors when considering potential sites for your new retail location.
Top Factors to Consider for Retail Site Selection
At its core, selecting the best site for your retail store is about aligning the new location and the surrounding demographics with your brand’s target audience and business goals, maximizing customer traffic and profitability. Here are the top factors that should drive your retail business’ site selection decisions:
- Location and accessibility: Location is the biggest factor, and choosing a new site that’s easily accessible by your customer base is really important, so choose places with high population density and plenty of traffic.
- Demographic data: Having insight into customer demographic data is also an important factor to consider because it helps you maximize the appeal of your store to potential customers. Thorough analysis and understanding the surrounding customers ensures your new store aligns with the expectations of the target market.
- Competition: Understanding your competitors is really important for business, and the same applies when selecting the best location for your store. Choose the location in an area that isn’t swamped by your competitors or is chosen to out-position them. Keep in mind, opening a store whose offering fits well with the adjacent storefronts increases the potential for maximum customer exposure and success.
Limitations of Retail Site Selection Models
Site selection is a challenging endeavor, mainly because there are several factors at play. Achieving all the preferred characteristics of an optimal site is seldom possible. So, the process is a balancing act of finding the site with the best combination of characteristics at the time of the search.
In the end, knowing the local market, the corresponding characteristics, and the data is key. The right commercial real estate agent or broker with the needed level of experience, access to the newest and best tools, as well as the ability to understand it all is critical to uncovering the right location.
Why Choose Us for Retail Site Selection?
Equity Retail Brokers facilitates and helps enhance the planning, decision-making, and implementation processes related to commercial real estate for retailers and restaurants of all types, including supermarkets and other national and regional operators, as well as franchise and independent businesses.
We offer a comprehensive range of brokerage services, including leasing, tenant representation, investment sales and asset management, so if you’re looking for someone to help you with the retail site selection process, look no further than Equity Retail Brokers.