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Established 2009

Which Retailer for My City? Nail Down the Right Retailers and Bolster Your Tax Revenues

Cities and towns across the United States have something important to gain from recruiting new retailers to set up shop locally. That something, of course, is increased sales tax revenues. Given the importance of sales tax revenues to the local economy, smart economic development centers, chambers of commerce and CVBs have a vested interest in taking a scientific, numbers-based approach to retailer targeting and recruitment.

The best place to start in any retailer recruitment effort is to figure out where you are now so that you can determine where to go next. By finding out just how well your current stable of local retailers is currently meeting the needs of the residents of your city or town, you can determine where the gaps are and how to fill them.

This is where a retail gap analysis report comes in. Also known as a retail revenue gap/surplus report, this represents a way to compare two vital data points for retail sector in your city:

a. current local resident demand, in revenue dollars, for that product or service

and

b. current sales revenue being earned for that same product or service by local retailers

In other words, the report presents a numbers-based comparison between supply and demand for restaurants, apparel stores, general stores, and every other type of retail sector in your town. When demand is greater than supply, it means that local residents are going outside of your borders to get those products and services. In other words: it shows you exactly where you are losing revenues.
The result: you gain immediate and direct insight into the types of retailers you should be recruiting, given the untapped demand that the report reveals on a sector-by-sector basis.

Once you have the results of your retail gap analysis in hand, you are then equipped to specifically target the right retailer. Of course, a lot more goes into a good retail gap analysis report than this basic numbers-based analysis. Be sure to do your homework as you select the right economic development analytics firm to commission for developing your own report.

Learn the 7 essential ingredients of an actionable and accurate retail gap analysis report here.