How To Develop Retail and Tourism Together For Increased City Revenue

Posted by Retail Attractions Blog on February 21, 2018 in Blog | No Comments

Retail development and tourism development are often planned independently of one another. But if your community has the potential to bring in tourists that’s definitely something to consider when planning retail development. And if your community’s retail offerings can appeal to non-residents, then developing a plan to bring in tourists is key to increasing city revenue.

Considering retail and tourism together is simply good business. Ideally, your community’s retail and tourist offerings should work together to support the local economy. Here are a few tips to make sure you’re doing just that.

Understand Tourism In Your Community

What attracts visitors to your area? That’s the first question to answer when considering the link between retail and tourism. Retail on its own can draw in a certain number of visitors, but tourist attractions are also going to be important.

When answering the question of why visitors should love your town, think about what makes your community unique or extraordinary. What do you have that other communities don’t or that is better than others can offer? Natural attractions such as lakes and rivers should go on your list, as well as outdoor activities. And don’t forget to include attractions with historic or cultural significance, including local festivals. Tourist attractions like zoos, theme parks, etc. should go on the list as well, along with unique local businesses and artisans.

Compare Tourist and Resident Shopping Patterns

It’s important to know what types of visitors are currently being attracted to your community and what your tourism potential is. But it’s also important to understand your resident’s needs and their retail habits. As you’re planning for tourism, you have to be careful to meet residents’ retail needs as well.

In some cases, there will be quite a bit of overlap between residents’ and tourists’ shopping patterns. This means that the difference between residents and tourists won’t have much of an impact on your retail development strategy. But in situations where there’s a wide gap between the two demographics’ needs and interests, you’ll want to attract retail that can cater to both groups of people.

Appeal To Your Tourism Niche

Once you understand what your community has to offer and what the tourists you’re attracting want, then you can focus on developing your joint tourism/retail development plan. This is where you’ll answer the question, “What products and services complement local attractions and appeal to your tourists?” Answering this question will help you discover your niche in the tourism industry and set you apart from the competition.

It’s easy for a community to feel overwhelmed planning retail development on its own, and even more so when you take tourism into account. Hiring a professional retail consultant will make things much easier. Retail Attractions can help with analyzing tourist and resident demographics, developing an actionable plan, and attracting the retailers you want. Just contact us today to get started.

Are You Missing Important Retailers? How To Target Your City’s Retail Expansion

Posted by Retail Attractions Blog on February 7, 2018 in Blog | No Comments

Your community needs retail. It helps bring in visitors, creates jobs, serves your local population, and increases tax revenue. But just knowing you’d like to bring in more retailers isn’t enough. You also need to know which retailers are missing and how to get their attention.

Having a clear plan is key to retail expansion. And to come up with that plan, you’re going to need a whole lot of very specific information. The easiest way to get that is to work with a professional consultant.

Finding Market Gaps

You probably already have some retail in your city. Even small market communities usually have a gas station or grocery store. And larger markets often have a variety of shops and restaurants already in the community. The question is, what else do you need?

To answer this, you’re going to need to find market gaps in your community. A gap in the market means there’s some need that consumers have which isn’t being met. You need to identify those needs and find a retailer or retailers who can fill the gap. Plus, you’ll also need to look at sites available for development and figure out what you can offer potential retailers who might build in your community.

Running The Data

Without up-to-date demographic data and market analysis, as well as an intimate understanding of how retail works, it’s very hard to figure out exactly which retailers would be best suited to your community. It’s unreasonable to assume that every city government should have someone on staff who’s an expert in retail development. It’s much easier, and more financially sound, to hire an expert consultant when you’re navigating a new retail project.

Retail Attractions has massive amounts of up-to-date data and analytics. These tools give us an advantage in figuring out what demand there is for certain types of business within your community. We can drastically shorten the amount of time your city would otherwise put into data gathering and analysis.

Contacting Retailers

Once you’ve identified what sort of retail your city is missing and which retailers would best fill your market gaps, it’s time to reach out to them. Here, you come up against another challenge. You need to convince retailers to listen to you when you ask them to build in your community.

Retailers take on a big risk when they commit to building in a new market. They want to make sure that there’s a very good chance their new development project is going to succeed before they commit to building in your city. Hiring a trusted retail consultant with a solid reputation, like Rickey Hayes, means developers are more likely to take your community seriously as a good location for development.

Are you ready to take the next step towards expanding retail development in your city? Contact us and we’ll work with your community to figure out which retailers you’re missing and start bringing them into your city.