Site selection has traditionally been viewed as a tactical activity. If a business needs to open 30 more units next year, the real estate team treats each site selection decision as a separate process and executes that process with operational precision.
But the business and real estate landscape is shifting, leading some industry experts to call for a more holistic approach to site selection. Rather than viewing site selection as a necessary business tactic, they view site selection as a strategy.
How do you shift to a strategic site selection approach? In the remainder of this blog post, we’ll share three best practices that can be applied to any consumer business. We’ll also share some advice on avoiding common pitfalls and some examples of successful strategic site selection. But first, we need to define some terms.
What Is Strategic Site Selection and How Does It Work?
Strategic site selection is the process of planning current and future brick-and-mortar locations in a way that positions the business to achieve its long-term growth objectives. To do this, you need to align your locations with your target market.
The strategic site selection process begins by identifying your best customers, where they and others like them are located, and their potential value to a new location.
Next, a site scoring model is developed, incorporating factors such as competition, cotenants, traffic, and population growth. This model allows for quick, informed assessments of a site’s potential. The model is also used to determine a long-term growth plan by evaluating different growth scenarios.
Key Factors to Consider in Strategic Site Selection
Now that we've defined strategic site selection, let's dive into the three best practices that all brick-and-mortar brands should implement.
1. Think Long-Term: Identify Your Total Network Potential
Strategic site selection requires you to stop thinking about site selection decisions in isolation. Instead, you need to think about site selection in relation to the rest of the network – both current units and future units.
Rather than viewing each site selection decision as independent, you need to consider what your network will be at total build out. How will those units impact each other? Where should each unit be placed to yield the highest overall return?
Taking the time to identify your total unit potential and the optimal network configuration gives you a long-term roadmap for real estate planning. This can be accomplished through a market potential analysis for your brand or on a smaller scale through tools such as scenario scoring. Using the potential analysis recommended trade areas as a guide also can help to speed up the site selection process by allowing you to focus your real estate search on a narrower area that has already been vetted for competitive intensity, core customer presence, and other factors that drive your brand’s performance.
2. Don’t Neglect Site Selection Fundamentals
The best real estate strategy in the world doesn’t matter if it isn’t executed properly. Once you have identified the best strategic areas for new units and have developed your overall roadmap, you still need to pinpoint the best available real estate for each trade area. This is where qualitative analysis complements the baseline quantitative analysis.
Is the site on the right side of the road to capture traffic flow? Is the site easy to access? Does the property have good signage visibility? If you are evaluating an existing property, does the quality of the real estate match your brand standards? How much investment is required to make the site operational?
Mastering real estate fundamentals gives your strategy the best chance of long-term success.
3. Evaluate Current Unit Performance and Adapt Your Site Selection Plan Over Time
Trade areas evolve over time. What was once a great site may not be as strong 20 years later. As you continue to build your network, evaluate current unit performance. Are there any sites that need to be closed or relocated? How will that shift your long-term unit plan?
Units that are in good locations may still benefit from additional investment to realize their full potential. Consider whether there is anything you could do to boost that site’s performance and realize the full return on your real estate investment.
Finally, competitive landscapes and business models shift over time too. If you change your operating model, begin to target a different group of customers, or face major industry changes, you need to revisit your long-term plan to ensure you are basing your strategy on the current environment.
How Consumer Behavior Shapes Strategic Site Selection
Strategic site selection is designed to position the business to reach its customers. To do this, you need to understand consumer behavior and how it impacts your real estate decisions. The answer to the real estate puzzle isn’t “location, location, location;” it is actually “customer, customer, customer.”
By analyzing customer demographics, purchasing patterns, and lifestyle preferences, businesses can paint a clear picture of who their best customers are and then find out where those types of consumers tend to cluster. For example, which neighborhoods have a high concentration of the types of consumers who match the profile of your best customers? Do the foot traffic patterns at the shopping center you are evaluating reflect the type of consumers you are trying to attract? Where else do consumers who favor your brand tend to shop?
Understanding who you are trying to reach, where they are located, and whether they are shopping at the centers you are evaluating can lead to smarter decisions.
Role of Technology in Modern Strategic Site Selection
Technology plays an important role in strategic site selection by equipping businesses with tools to make data-driven location decisions. Geographic Information Systems (GIS), advanced analytics platforms, and AI streamline the site selection process, offering insights into consumer behavior, markets, and competitive landscapes. These platforms also allow businesses to deploy custom predictive models, helping forecast potential site success. By integrating these models, companies can reduce risk and enhance efficiency.
Collaborating with industry leaders in the analytics space and tech firms further improves decision-making, bringing expert guidance and the latest innovations in site selection technology. By leveraging these partnerships, businesses can navigate complex markets with greater confidence, ensuring their location strategies align with long-term growth objectives.
Avoiding Common Pitfalls in Strategic Site Selection
In the site selection process, many businesses make mistakes that can hinder their long-term success. One common pitfall is relying solely on demographics when evaluating a site's potential. While these data points are important, failing to consider other critical factors such as psychographics, foot traffic, cotenancy, and competition often leads to misguided decisions. Industry leaders avoid this by integrating customer profiles that go deeper than demographics and site selection models into their real estate strategy in order to gain a comprehensive view of the market.
Another frequent mistake is expanding into new markets without properly assessing competition or local dynamics. Without this insight, businesses risk entering saturated markets or missing out on untapped opportunities.
Local partnerships are also crucial in site selection, yet some businesses fail to engage with stakeholders or overlook the value of incentives offered by economic development agencies. These incentives can provide financial advantages that significantly improve a site's viability, but only if businesses are proactive in securing them.
By leveraging advanced analytics and building strategic partnerships, businesses can avoid these pitfalls and make informed decisions that drive growth and long-term success in the site selection process.
Examples of Successful Strategic Site Selection
Strategic site selection is a powerful tool that drives growth for businesses across various industries. By leveraging data and analytics, companies can identify locations that maximize customer access and align with market demand.
For example, a fitness brand achieved rapid growth with Buxton by identifying neighborhoods with high concentrations of its target audience. By strategically selecting these locations, the brand significantly increased its membership base, contributing to its overall market expansion. Similarly, a retail footwear brand used strategic site selection to expand their reach through both new retail and wholesale distribution outlets. The analysis identified optimal sites based on actual customer data, showing previously untapped opportunities.
Healthcare organizations also benefit from these same solutions. In partnership with Buxton, a leading urgent care provider expanded its presence in high-growth areas by using advanced site selection models. This approach helped the provider open new locations where demand for healthcare services was highest, leading to increased patient visits and operational efficiency.
These examples demonstrate how a well-executed strategic site selection plan can lead to enhanced profitability and business growth no matter what industry you are in.
Getting Started with Strategic Site Selection
Are you using a tactical approach to site selection, or a strategic approach? If you need to make the shift to strategic site selection, consider working with Buxton. We can provide you with insights on what drives your brand’s performance so that you can make the right decisions.
Explore our location intelligence solutions to learn more.
