This document discusses methods for evaluating potential retail trading areas and locations. It outlines four main steps: 1) evaluate geographic areas based on residents and competitors, 2) determine if an isolated store or shopping center is best, 3) select a location type, and 4) analyze specific sites. Key factors to consider include population characteristics like size, income, and demographics, as well as economic base, competition, transportation access, and property costs. Trading area analysis helps understand customer demographics, promotional opportunities, competition overlap, and ideal number of outlets. The benefits are discovery of ideal locations and trading areas.

1. TRADING AREA EVALUATING METHODS-LOCATION SELECTION
MMS (17-19)
Welingkar Institute Of Management

2. TRADING-AREA ANALYSIS
A trading area is a geographic area containing
the customers of a particular firm or group
of firms for specific goods or services.

3. • Demonstrate the importance of store location for a retailer and outline the process
for choosing a store location.
• To examine three major factors in trading-area analysis
• Population characteristics
• Economic base characteristics
• Competition and level of saturation
Why?

4. LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION!
 Location decisions are complex, costly and little flexibility once selected.
 Location attributes have a large affect in retailer’s success

5. Other Factors to consider:
• population size and traits
• competition
• transportation access
• parking availability
• nature of nearby stores
• property costs
• length of agreement
• legal restrictions

6. STEPS IN CHOOSING A STORE LOCATION
Step 1: Evaluate alternate geographic (trading)
areas in terms of residents and existing retailers
Step 3: Select the location type
Step 2: Determine whether to locate as an
isolated store or in a planned shopping center
Step 4: Analyze alternate sites contained in the
specific retail location type

7. BENEFITS OF TRADING AREA ANALYSIS
 Discovery of consumer demographics and socioeconomic characteristics
 Opportunity to determine focus of promotional activities
 Opportunity to view media coverage patterns
 Assessment of effects of trading area overlap
 Ascertain whether chain’s competitors will open nearby
 Discovery of ideal number of outlets, geographic weaknesses
 Review of other issues, such as transportation

8. Destination stores have a better
assortment, better promotion,
and/or better image
It generates a trading area much
larger than that of its competitors
Dunkin’ Donuts: “It’s worth the
trip!”
•Parasite stores do not create their
own traffic and have no real trading
area of their own
•These stores depend on people who
are drawn to area for other reasons.
DESTINATIONS VERSUS PARASITES

9. TRADITIONAL MEANS OF DELINEATING TRADING
AREAS
Reilly’s law of retail gravitation – establishes a point of indifference
between 2 cities so the trading areas of each can be determined
Point of difference – geographic breaking point between 2 cities
where consumers are indifferent to shopping at either trading area
Huff’s law of shopper attraction – delineates trading areas on the
basis of the product assortment (of the items desired most by
consumers) carried at various shopping locations, travel times from
the shoppers’ home and etc.

10. Total size and density
Age distribution
Average educational level
Percentage of residents owning
homes
Total disposable income
Per capita disposable income
Occupation distribution
Trends
FACTORS TO CONSIDER IN EVALUATING
RETAIL TRADING AREAS
Population Size and Characteristics

11. FACTORS TO CONSIDER IN EVALUATING
RETAIL TRADING AREAS
 Availability of labour
 Closeness to sources of supply(delivery cost, timeliness ,
reliability)
 Economic base
 Competitive situation
 Availability of store locations(access to transportation ,
costs, owning versus leasing)
 Regulations