Demographic Analysis
Of critical importance to any community market research project is accurately defining the trade area, the geographic area from which the majority of consumers are to be drawn. Estimating trade areas requires skilled judgment and experience. Simply using concentric rings or drive times reports is not an accurate method of determining trade area. We produce radius and drive time reports because they are quick and provide great basic information.
There are many factors that affect the trade area. Retail Attractions uses real world experience and research to analyze the factors affecting trade area and define an accurate primary trade area. The most accurately estimated trade area takes into account factors such as population densities, retail voids or other retail competition, competitive communities, natural barriers, traffic flow, accessibility and convenience.
Our standard reports include city limits, 5, 10, 15, and 20 mile radius reports, 10, 15, and 30 minute drive time reports, and custom trade area reports. Depending on the size of the market area considered, there may be primary trade area, secondary trade area, and sometimes even a tertiary trade area for select retail categories.
At Retail Attractions, our preliminary trade area is defined partly using Reilly’s Law of Retail Gravitation which describes the effect of competition and the premise that people want to shop in larger towns but their desire declines in direct relation to the distance and time they must travel to reach those places. We assess the distance and retail offerings of the surrounding communities to get a starting point for the trade area. From there, the area is adjusted to account for natural barriers, traffic flow and accessibility. Convenient retail is successful retail. Once we have analyzed all of these factors, we adjust our preliminary trade area to account for our findings. The result is a custom polygon that represents a true consumer base. This methodology has been perfected through years of experience and diligent research and provides a result more tailored than concentric rings or drive times. The results of our method are justifiable and proven to be effective marketing information.
Once the trade area is defined, we collect demographics for the trade area and the city limits. This information in conjunction with data provided from the city is compiled in an easy to read format giving an accurate representation of the growth, education level, income level and overall demographic make-up of the consumers. This report allows us to identify strengths and weaknesses in a market and move forward in the right direction.
Retailers are looking for specific requirements when trying to choose a site for their next project. Having your community’s information compiled by a third party and presented in a professional format will let the retailers know you are a proactive city that wants to make their job as easy as possible. The easier you make it for site selectors, the more likely they are to consider your community.
Our Opportunity Gap Analysis (Retail Leakage) provides an actionable portrait of sales opportunity, allowing you to maximize your growth strategies by targeting retailers that fill the sales gaps that exist in your marketplace. By using sales potential to depict supply and geography-based estimates of potential annual consumer expenditures to depict demand within a specific market, an opportunity gap analysis of the retail environment is defined. When you know what people are leaving your community to buy, you can begin an educated retail recruitment campaign to the appropriate retailers to stop the revenue bleed.
Our market reports are based on and built around comments and suggestions from retail real estate professionals, tenant rep brokers, and experienced retail developers. At the suggestion of these professionals we have refined and scaled our demographic and market analysis reports to contain the precise information that needs to be relayed and understood to allow quick comprehension of key site and market questions, conditions, and issues.
Contact us at (918) 376-6707 to begin your demographic analysis.