In a digital world, the retail industry is one that has had to adapt many times in order to remain relevant and to continue existing in what is a digitally dominated society.
A lot of retailers who have existed for decades have had to update their efforts when it comes to capturing their regular buyer’s attention. With so many new retailers popping up and the rise of eCommerce generating more shoppers to buy online, it’s critical to modernize your business.
How do you ensure that happens for your retail business? Well, it begins with retail analysis and that includes doing the research and collecting the data needed to ensure your retail venue thrives. Businesses have to think smartly when investing in commercial property, particularly in terms of retail.
In this guide, we’ll look at how platforms like Carto are essential for helping grow your business in 2022 and beyond. You’ll learn how retail analysis can benefit your business and how a software like Carto can be handy in pinpointing the best retail location for your growing company in a digital world.
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The importance of bricks-and-mortar shopping
It’s hard to believe that brick-and-mortar shopping still exists, especially with so many large retail businesses going out of business because of the struggles of getting people through their doors.
However, in reality, retail shopping in Missouri is still very much required. In fact, only 16% of all retail purchases are done through eCommerce. There’s still a much-needed use for physical retail stores and here’s why.
Helps reach customers that aren’t online
One of the major benefits that come with bricks-and-mortar shopping is that it reaches people that aren’t currently online. Yes, despite most people having a digital footprint, not everyone has access to the internet or chooses to exist online.
Even though society as a whole is very much influenced by the online world, it’s not the be-all and end-all for some.
Provides a better customer experience
Unfortunately, with online shopping, you don’t get the same customer experience. It’s not something that can be 100% replicated online when shopping in-store. You’re there in real-time and for some retailers, being able to use the products or try them on, is essential in influencing their buying.
With 72% of millennials rather spending on experiences than on material items, retailers can take full advantage of this within their own stores.
Whilst eCommerce has its benefits, it cannot be denied that physical, in-store retail shopping is still required. As the pandemic will show, we all still desire some degree of in-person contact and interaction.
How does Carto work?
As one of the world’s leading location intelligence platforms, it’s helped many of its hundreds of thousands of users to unlock the power of spatial analysis. Spatial analysis for retailers can be a great way of understanding where customers are and how that influences where they place their business on the map.
Carto works by utilizing big data and using it through a number of solutions offered by the platform itself. From retail mapping, geomarketing, and supply chain optimization, Carto helps organizations to use this spatial data for more efficiency in their operation.
This could be identifying better delivery routes in Missouri or improving behavioral marketing depending on the habits of their shoppers nearby. As well as that, the main benefit is providing the data needed to locate the best retail spot for a business. The positioning of the business can be the difference between success and failure.
How to find the best retail location with Carto
Carto is being used by many businesses nowadays when it comes to the retail industry. If you’ve not considered retail mapping before, then it’s certainly something that you should be utilizing as we head into 2022.
With Carto being readily available for any retail business, as well as other industries, here are some of the best tips for finding your best retail locations in the areas you typically operate in.
Understand retail mapping
Many retailers will use Carto in order to gain access to mapping and location analytics. This data can be useful in helping to gather intel on where is best for the business to head when placing itself on the map.
Not only that but it can provide the details required in order to understand customer behavior and to manage particular assets like inventory and your supply chain, for example.
Take advantage of geomarketing for both retail location and target campaigns
As part of Carto’s offerings, you can take full advantage of geomarketing, a tool that helps to not only locate the right spot for your business in Missouri but can also help with targeted campaigns. When it comes to marketing, campaigns can often be targeted to the wrong individuals and in the wrong locations.
Geomarketing helps a business understand where any of its existing customers may be, as well as any potential new customers available in the area. New data streams and insights can be helpful when it comes to geomarketing as it provides real-time behavior of your customers.
It can also be helpful when it comes to customer segmentation and providing a more tailored experience for all your customers, wherever they’re located. As such, the right message is pushed at the right time, in the right place, and to the right individuals!
Site selection for performance and plan expansion
Whilst retail stores make up for the majority of sales made in general, the footfall has been declining by around 15% each year. This is something that needs to be tackled in order to encourage more people to step through the doors of a retail store.
Whether it’s opening new stores, closing existing ones that aren’t performing well, repurposing, or relocating, Carto has a fantastic site selection tool. It’s useful for helping maintain and improve the performance of physical sites, as well as helping plan for expansion.
With spatial data science, it helps to navigate the era of the omnichannel. From predicting revenues in different locations to using new data streams, it’s all helpful in understanding what decisions need to be made to benefit the business further.
Get further data through indoor mapping
According to Fred Economic Data, Missouri is one place that has fluctuated in its monthly retail store sales. However, as of 2022, it is slowly creeping back up. As a business, it’s still important to cater to that audience who doesn’t shop online.
One benefit of Carto is its indoor mapping, which can provide an even more detailed analysis of the performance of a store. It can help make more informed decisions based on how busy the store is throughout the day. From optimizing layouts to changing opening hours to better suit the habits of current customers, this type of technology is useful to take advantage of.
The behavior of your customers can provide enough data alone to understand what they require from your business when it comes to traditional brick-and-mortar locations.
Encourage supply chain optimization for your stores
With eCommerce being a competitor of physical retail stores, it’s important to look at how your supply chain operates and whether or not it can be optimized. From working with the right suppliers for logistical benefits to meeting the demands of your customers through distribution centers and delivery services, it’s all important to implement.
Spatial data and techniques can help provide your team with all of the knowledge they could possibly need to define the best territories for your business premises, as well as routing optimization. All of these can be useful in helping bring your operations to the modern-day demands of customers.
The technology provided by Carto can help your Missouri business find the best suppliers and organizations to make your retail company more efficient.
Use Carto for the best retail location planning in 2022
In order to maintain and provide a great in-person experience, whilst making it financially viable, using platforms like Carto can help deliver the right insight needed to help your business thrive. With that being said, make sure that you’re investing in Carto to help find the best retail locations for your organization in 2022 and beyond.
Carto offers a full demo of its services so that you can discover how influential this software can be for your business as you tackle a new retail age that’s heavily dominated by the digital world. With customer-centric experiences being popular nowadays, it pays to invest in Carto to provide your customers with a shopping experience that they’ll want to enjoy in real life.