If you're in the business of leasing space to retailers or other service business, you need to be using retail void analysis reports.
First, what is a void analysis report? Put simply, a void analysis identifies gaps for businesses in a market. In other words, you can determine what chains are missing in a market, which will help you recruit the right kinds of businesses to fill your vacant location.
Historically, retail void reports (or void analysis reports) showed what retailers were missing from a trade area, or “void” around a shopping center. So, think a report with a long list of chain retailers (excluding any that are already doing business nearby). These reports were comprehensive, but did not separate the good potential tenants from those chains that were not a good fit for the site or shopping center. Likewise, there was no means to exclude those chains that in reality, were unlikely to open a new location in an area (and not a good match to your site’s trade area).
We all know those types of retail void analysis reports are not very helpful!
At SiteSeer, we decided that we needed to do better. Our Void Analysis Pro reports provide a list of potential tenants, AND a means to evaluate and prioritize those tenants. If you're a broker or shopping center developer, you can use SiteSeer's Void Analysis tool to use your time wisely and pursue only possible tenants that are a good fit for your shopping center.
If you're going to bother using Void Analysis, make sure you're using the best kind of tool. Here are several things to look for when selecting a void analysis tool:
Many chains have very specific criteria when evaluating new sites. You need to be able to compare potential tenants. Which ones are the best fit? Which ones often locate in sites that are similar to the site you're running the void analysis on? With this feature, you can use your time wisely and only recruit tenants that would actually consider your site.
A map of the site and demographics in the surrounding area are only somewhat helpful. Wouldn't it be better to know what tenants would be a good match for your shopping center based on demographics, lifestyle segmentation, and other attributes?
The right cotenants can help a shopping center be successful. So, if you're leasing a center, you should identify not just the types of tenants that would fit the space, but also the cotenants that would complement those retailers and chains. You'll need to analyze different customer types for the different businesses in the shopping center.
Current information about a chain business is important! That way you know where to start and don't waste your time.
If you have a shopping center with 35,000 square feet of vacancy, you need to narrow tenants that would work for that space. It's very useful to not only be able to evaluate and prioritize tenants, but also narrow your list to high-probability tenants (as well as tenants that are a poor match...sometimes it's just as useful to take note of the tenants that would NOT fit the space well as it is to see which ones DO fit the space well).
A tool like SiteSeer’s Void Analysis will augment your market knowledge. You'll be able to develop robust recruitment packages that include site packs with site match scores, market data, consumer spending, demographics in a trade area, and more!
You have two ways to use SiteSeer's Void Analysis:
Take your analysis to the next level!