By Isabella Yalif
In 2017, Whole Foods closed a store in Prescott, Arizona. Betsy Harden, Whole Foods Corporation Communication Coordinator, stated in an email:
“As part of yesterday’s Q1 earnings, we did announce the close of nine stores including our Prescott, Arizona location. This was part of an overall evaluation of our portfolio of stores as we work to position Whole Food Market for long-term success.”
When we examine the types of Whole Foods customers in Prescott, Arizona, we can identify a red flag that would have made us hesitate to open a store in this location.
Compared to the general consumer population in Prescott, which is “Silver & Gold, Set to Impress, Old and Newcomers,” Whole Foods’ main audience is “Laptops and Lattes, Metro Renters, Trendsetters” — two very different demographics.
As you can see, there is little overlap between the consumer base of Whole Foods’ main audience and the people of Prescott, which would lead us to believe the Prescott location might require further investigation before opening a store at this location.
Retailers need to understand store performance at granular levels, details that only data analysis can provide. With the power of A.I., machine learning, and predictive analytics, Locate can process and analyze large retail data sets to inform the site selection process and forecast future store performance.
If you’d like to build a site forecasting model customized for your brand, fill out the form below.
The biggest mistake retailers make in their site selection process
Retailers frequently fall into one common site selection trap— overestimating the value of a large quantity of consumers, rather than zeroing in on and identifying the right consumers first. Modern site selection starts with knowing your customers. With mobile data, you can build rich customer profiles to identify locations specifically suited for your store’s business hours. Leveraging mobile GPS data can tell you:- Whether your customers are traveling on foot or by car
- Where they live and work
- Businesses they frequent
- Where they come from before entering your store and where they go afterward
In 2017, Whole Foods closed a store in Prescott, Arizona. Betsy Harden, Whole Foods Corporation Communication Coordinator, stated in an email:
“As part of yesterday’s Q1 earnings, we did announce the close of nine stores including our Prescott, Arizona location. This was part of an overall evaluation of our portfolio of stores as we work to position Whole Food Market for long-term success.”
When we examine the types of Whole Foods customers in Prescott, Arizona, we can identify a red flag that would have made us hesitate to open a store in this location.
Compared to the general consumer population in Prescott, which is “Silver & Gold, Set to Impress, Old and Newcomers,” Whole Foods’ main audience is “Laptops and Lattes, Metro Renters, Trendsetters” — two very different demographics.
As you can see, there is little overlap between the consumer base of Whole Foods’ main audience and the people of Prescott, which would lead us to believe the Prescott location might require further investigation before opening a store at this location.
Retailers need to understand store performance at granular levels, details that only data analysis can provide. With the power of A.I., machine learning, and predictive analytics, Locate can process and analyze large retail data sets to inform the site selection process and forecast future store performance.
If you’d like to build a site forecasting model customized for your brand, fill out the form below.
