Find the right location for your retail store
Having a decent location for retail is one of the essential effects on account of the business’s marketing strategy on the grounds that many of the relevant long-term decisions and obligations rely on where the retail business is actually located.
Selecting a decent site for retail business is one of the essential components when it comes to inviting in more and more clients and possibilities.
Now and again, a decent site or location for retail can likewise prompt a competitive advantage in light of the fact that in retail marketing mix location is one of the most significant parameters which cannot be replicated by business rivals in any capacity.
In this article, we will first discuss the location and will answer the question of why store location is important for any business, then we will switch our focus to the topic of store location selection for food, and we will lastly finish our topic with 5 Tips for selecting a perfect retail location.
Why store location is important for a retail business?
As mentioned above, a decent retail store is a competitive advantage that cannot be duplicated by rivals.
One site can only be occupied by one retail store, and also time has a focal role alongside the retail site.
For instance, the retail location of a brand like Chanel will open up only in a specific neighborhood, and for two or three months, that store will be the main purchase source of all the Chanel items of that specific area.
In the event that Adidas appears in a similar neighborhood, it will not be able to possess a similar site as of Chanel’s.
Adidas store has to be located either close to the Chanel store, which totally relies upon the availability of the area, or it must be set extremely distant from the Chanel store so that targeting a whole different type of clients and neighborhood.
Client proximity is another business concern for a large portion of retail organizations.
A number of stores can be opened away from the city with a more modest budget, yet the retailers will not be able to attract clients to that specific neighborhood.
Subsequently, the retailers need to think in the same manner as the client would and open a store that would be well situated for the clients.
Since geographically speaking, demographic groups are spread out at each imaginable area, retailers cannot start a store in each area and rather they need to think about a central area that would be available to the vast majority of the area within a specific distance across all the areas.
Having a well-situated retail location encourages the retail business to make supply chain and distribution orchestration trouble-free for the specific outlet.
This decreases the expense of the business with regards to satisfying the prompt needs of the client and satisfying the critical orders and thus, the retail outlet will not have any trouble in doing as such.
Due to the decrease in transportation costs, it lessens the general expense of supply chain management and operations.
Having many retail locations close by likewise empowers the retail business at one suitable spot from which a large portion of the retail outlets can be made in no time.
This lessens the hold-up time and furthermore diminishes the ‘No Stock’ occurrence in stores.
A suitably located retail site can likewise impact the purchasing practices of the clients.
Clients will consistently lean toward their preferred brand, yet more often than not, clients likewise advert to stay away from trouble to get to a specific store and compromise on alternative brands.
For instance, a devoted fanatic of Pepsi lives in a specific neighborhood, and the accessibility of Pepsi is ten streets away from his place.
Since the individual is a lifelong fanatic of Pepsi, he will make sure to stock up his home with Pepsi, however, there will be times when he should walk this distance or take an appropriate method of transportation to the spot to be able to purchase Pepsi for himself.
A couple of days after, the results is that there is a store which is only one street or two away from his place, but it only sells Coca-Cola.
One fine day, that client tired of strolling down ten streets decides to go for Coca-Cola and naturally is it purchased from the site which is one street or two away from this house.
He tastes Coca-Cola only to discover that it is on a similar level as Pepsi and chooses to quit purchasing Pepsi and switches over to Coca-Cola.
Now that we have pointed out some facts about why store location is important for a retail business, we will move on to the topic of store location selection for food and restaurant businesses.
5 tips for selecting a perfect retail location
Selecting a perfect retail location is vital for any business.
Essentially, there are various guidelines that affect selecting a perfect retail location dependent upon the essence of the business and its target audience.
In the following, you can read a few tips that can be applied in order to select the right retail location
1. Market analysis
The retailer must analyze the market regarding its products and industry alongside the nature and presence of the competition.
They need to check and analyze the market to know how far has the competition been effective in satisfying the clients’ needs.
2. Market Demographics
It is crucial to consider Market Demographics in order to select a perfect retail location.
The customers’ age group, profession, Lifestyle, religion, income groups, etc. are important data to analyze and decide on a location.
3. Market potential evaluation
The paying capacity of the community plays a significant role in the Market potential evaluation, along with the effect of the competition and the product estimation and demand. The retailer must have information on the guidelines and laws of the state wherein the store is being established.
4. Identification of the alternatives
More often than not it so happens that the retailers in rush of establishing the business decide on an area that will end up costing them a fortune while a suitable area with comparative business potential would have been accessible somewhere so closeby that was ignored or neglected.
In these cases, the retailer must not continue to finalize the retail location selection and has to look out for alternatives and analyze that site with comparative parameters.
5. Allocation of marketing budget
A retail location must own a marketing budget contingent upon the expense of the site, which is used to draw more potential customers to the business.
In fact, a retail business possessing a perfect location and has a decent inflow of customers will cost a fortune for the retailer.
In such cases, the marketing budget will be very less since the store is in sight of the greater part of the customers and passers-by.
Despite what might be expected, a store that is located further from the main street must utilize more marketing efforts and allocate budget for marketing campaigns to draw in more clients to the store.
Store location selection for food and restaurant businesses
Owners of Restaurants, experts, advisers, and even bloggers invest a great amount of energy discussing how the store location selection for food and restaurant businesses is vital to its prosperity.
Extraordinary businesses have been known to close down due to a poor restaurant site.
While the facts confirm that it takes significant endeavors to locate the correct blend of the three angles of Location, Food, and Service triangle for the achievement of a restaurant, it is crucial to recognize that store location selection for food and restaurant is only one of the vital components.
While deciding on the Store location selection for food and restaurant business, keep the succeeding details in mind:
1. Market Research
Prior to anything, you should conduct a market research and industry investigation on the area where you wish to open your restaurant.
You should also do a demographic survey to recognize the potential client base. It is also a smart idea to discover your current challenge in the area; if a rival is doing admirably in the area, it implies that there exists a constituted client base.
2. Location Size
The size of the restaurant is not simply limited to the eating space. The site must be sufficiently large to fit all the kitchen hardware.
Cooking stations, Walk-in freezer, and so on all require sizable spaces.
A cramped up area to serve more clients oftentimes works the opposite and drives clients away.
3. Access and Parking
Easy access to the restaurant location and availability of the parking space around the location is a crucial detail when it comes to restaurant site selection and should not be overlooked.
If customers are not able to easily access your restaurant or park their vehicles, they will choose a different location for dining.
Conclusion
Market analysis is the most important part of retail research.
Be sure to research your market in the location area to be sure that you are choosing the right place.
