Local Area Planning focuses on understanding the geographical dynamics between supply (retail activity) and demand (consumers).

Understanding catchment areas is a fundamental part of retail location decisions. A retailer needs to know:

• Where do customers come from?
• What sort of people are they?
• Where is the competition?
• How significant is that competition?

Experian Business Strategies can help answer these questions. We can help you determine the size and shape of the catchment area of a particular store or retail centre. By creating similar catchment areas for neighbouring stores we can determine the degree of overlap, and hence the level of competition. We can also analyse known information of the population living within a catchment area to identify the principle characteristics of the potential market.

To achieve accurate modeling and prediction, we pull together vast amount of information from census, day-time working population statistics, population projection forecasts, property data and market research surveys. We make use of Mosaic, available for Hong Kong and major cities in China, to describe each local catchment area in great detail and outline what makes each area different from another. Mosaic is a very effective data linkage tool for translating the results of market research surveys into local area market potentials.

To help interpret and visualize local area characteristics, we make use of a powerful array of spatial and statistical analysis tools, including Micromarketer, an integrated desk-top analysis, profiling and mapping software; and its web-enabled sister product, eMarketer. Micromarketer and eMarketer allow you to integrate market research and your in-house store data on a single platform, for local market planning and site location purposes. They are very user-friendly software with comprehensive wizards to guide your through your analysis projects.

These techniques allow you, the retailer, to understand the market in which a store, or potential store, operates. They facilitate a variety of applications from network planning through to category management and product ranging. The results may also be used for forecasting and benchmarking store performance, and for identification of the most significant factors in driving sales.

To find out more about how Experian’s Local Area Planning service can help you call +852 2839 5388 or email to info@hk.experian.com