The location is key to many of your decisions. Where will I open a new outlet? Is it better to move to another location? Are my outlets located too close to each other, or is there room for more? What is the turnover potential of this location? Is the footfall along this location sufficient? Correct location choices are essential, since a wrong decision can be very costly.
We are happy to help you with the right information for your location decisions.
Bespoke analysis / Site survey
Before opening a shop, you will want to know if the location is suitable. For example, is there cannibalization, which competitors are present and with how many m² of RFS, are there anchor stores in the neighbourhood, etc.? With our up-to-date retail database, we are able to carry out an independent location survey for you. This will give you a good impression of the potential of a certain location.
What is the footfall flow in this location?
Do you have a new store in mind? And do you want to know if the footfall is high enough? We have data available of over 200 of the most important shopping areas in the Netherlands and Belgium – including historical data. If the property does not reside within our regular counting areas, we can also realize a customized footfall count. You can compare these numbers with the data of existing locations or other new options.
What is the sales potential of this outlet (location)?
When you have a location in mind, you want to estimate how well your new store will run. We can work this out for you as a one-off assignment in a report. Would you like to be able to flexibly weigh different scenarios yourself? Our software tool IRIS, formerly known as Retail Revenue Calculator, provides a turnover forecast by carrying out various simulations. This gives you answers to questions such as:
- What are the most promising locations for our new outlets?
- What is the effect of an additional location on our existing outlets?
- To what extent will cannibalization take place?
- What effect will a relocation, closure or new store have on our competitive position?
- What is the competitive pressure?
- What is the effect of an acquisition?
- Am I reaching the full potential of my current outlet(s)?
What is the catchment area of this location?
Often you have information about your customer base via customer card details or warranty certificates. But do you know and understand what your catchment area is? Do you use the correct zip codes when distributing leaflets? Is there overlap between a new location and the catchment area of an existing outlet? Locatus can map out this information for you. This provides more insight than any other list.
What is our optimal store network?
This is a question we often get from different retailers. For example one has taken over another retail chain and wants to know what the optimum is for this new combination of stores. The other decides to merge two formulas under one name, and wants to know where too much overlap occurs, or perhaps even where there is still room for new outlets. Another wants to take a close look at his/her current store network.
Where are the best geographical opportunities for a new store?
Whether your target is 5 or 275 locations, the question remains the same: geographically, wat are my best opportunities? The white spot analysis offers a solution: it gives you insight into where you can still successfully establish yourself. With this information, you can start a targeted search, or quickly screen proposed locations for suitability. We can create a white spot analysis for you using our current retail database, which includes information about competitive pressure and the pull of the catchment areas. Do you already have several stores? We can analyse which characteristics explain your turnover. We then use this knowledge to draw up a customised white spot analysis.
What is the effect of redevelopment on the footfall flow in the shopping area?
We can make a prediction of future footfall flows for you. What will be the effect when a new shopping area is added? Or if shops are merged together or relocated? Although this prediction is not an exact science, in previous cases the results were very close to the ultimate reality. An independent report gives all parties more clarity and certainty about what the consequences may be for the future.
