Site evaluation of Retail Store
Site evaluation is analyzing the specific location and the site selected to set up the business based on accessibility, customer profile, customer traffic, legal complications, and political environment of the location selected for setting up of the retail store.
A retail store just can t be set up based on the availability of real estate, many procedures and research go behind before setting up a retail store.
Opening a new retail store need analytic research which will help us to understand the customer profile and market potential for a retailer at that location. We can say that choosing a retail location and site is a strategic decision and it is based on market research.
The Retail Organization has to be very specific and sensitive when choosing a location - especially the parameters like population, the economy of the selected location and competition surrounding has to be taken into consideration.
When we are evaluating the site, the below mentioned are taken into prime consideration:
- Population Size & Characteristics
Population in and around the chosen location should be such that we get a regular and considerable amount of customers for the business to sustain. Just because there is a large number of people in an area, we can not open the retail business - the characteristics of the population has to be considered. Whether the population has the capacity to buy the products, whether they can afford the products or not and we also have to evaluate the disposable income of the population. The main thing to consider here is the spending power of the population which we have chosen.
- Competition surrounding the location
Competition around the store should help us to get the footfalls to our store, the best place to be is as close to your biggest competitor. Chose the merchandise carefully which is not available at the competition so that we get customers looking for the particular product. It will be a smart move if we set up our business around the store which is doing good because we can get the customers from that particular retailer. If the competitors is doing well then they would have done good market research before opening the store, this will definitely help us. Also, the competitors would have spent a good amount in marketing, this will help us as we can spend less on marketing as the competition has already done this.
Access to the store is very important. The store should have good connectivity and the roads leading to the store should be well connected. The store should be easily accessible to the common people through public transportation.
A good retail location should have an ample amount of space for parking of the vehicles who come to shop in your store. The parking facility should always free to the retail store customers. Also, this facility has to be manned for a clutter-free experience for the customers. Without the parking facility, one should not consider opening the store at a particular location.
The cost of property is the most important factor in finalizing the retail site location. The business volume has to be taken into consideration before agreeing on the cost. If the cost of property is high and the business potential is medium then it will not make sense to set up a retail business. Consider or check the property rate surrounding the site and then finalize on the same. Before finalizing the site we have to check the condition of the building if it is already built, the availability of adequate utilities around is the position of the building as per the retail standards, and also whether there is space for office storage and workroom space.
Before you enter into the agreement with the landlord, we should hire a good lawyer who can negotiate on the terms and conditions of finalizing the site. One should always keep the initial term short, you can anyhow renew it or move out depending on how the business is actually doing. Common area maintenance and other costs should be discussed and finalized in the initial stages of the agreement.
The retailer should check all the legalities with respect to the retail business before setting up a store. Registering your business name with the local government, set up your Employer Identification Number, get all the necessary Permits and Licenses, describe the privacy policy and the most important thing is to hire a business lawyer to learn more about legal requirements for starting a retail business.
 
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