For trade, it is preferable to rent rather than buy premises. This has an undoubted number of advantages, one of which is the ability to quickly respond to changes. In this case, the tenant can quickly change location.

Customer flow may change dramatically due to external factors. So, if a large and prestigious shopping and entertainment center is being built nearby, it will certainly attract a large number of buyers. Ultimately, this can make the other store's business unprofitable.

We must not forget that the purchase of retail space subsequently requires the fulfillment of a number of obligations. If you have to reduce the number of retail outlets, then selling the premises becomes not so easy. Then you have to think about renting it out, and this is work in a completely new line of business.

You need to choose a premises after the entrepreneur is clear about the format in which he plans to work.

There are quite a lot of accommodation options. You can open your own retail outlet in a shopping center, a separate building, or make it mobile.

There are a number of factors that need to be considered when choosing a room. They will be considered in more detail.

The article turned out to be long, so use the content.

Location assessment

This includes several nuances that an entrepreneur must take into account in order for subsequent work to be effective:

• Area potential

If it is insufficient, then there is no point in opening your own retail outlet there. At the same time, you need to determine the trading zone correctly. For average supermarkets it is about 1.5 kilometers, which is equivalent to a quarter of an hour's walking distance.

It is also very important to understand how to determine potential, what to take into account? The components will be:

1. security of the population of the region;
2. purchasing behavior of people living in the area.

When assessing the capabilities and desires of the population, you need to pay attention to the following features:

1. level of development in the area;
2. number of residents in the area;
3. infrastructure development;
4. location of important facilities (this includes shopping centers, parks, transport routes, stops).

• Traffic near the outlet

It is very important to clearly understand how many people walk around the outlet. All information obtained when assessing the potential of the area must be plotted on a map, and then the level of consumer flows must be assessed.

A very important question will be: is it convenient for the buyer to get to the store? This issue is especially acute for stores that open on the outskirts, because there the bulk of purchases are made on the way home. In general, you need to be extremely careful when opening retail outlets in such places.

• Presence of competitors nearby

It is very important how close the competitors are. The fewer there are, the better it will be for the profitability of the future outlet.

If there are no competitors nearby at all, this can often mean that the niche is simply not in demand in a particular area.

• Social orientation

If rich people live in the area, then they are unlikely to be interested in non-branded clothing, for example. The elite class prefers boutiques and fashionable clothes. Therefore, it is worth comparing the desires of potential clients with what the entrepreneur can offer them.

• Driveways

Any retail outlet should be convenient and easy to get to. If the store does not have a convenient entrance, many will probably find an alternative. At the same time, you need to understand who the potential buyer is and how he will get to the store. If these are fairly rich people, then they need to be provided with parking spaces. In this case, the calculation must be made from the following data: for every 25 m 2 of area, on average, 1 parking space is required. If the main buyers are low-income citizens, then there is no need to worry about parking.

Location in a shopping center, premises requirements

It is equally important to evaluate the premises and its location inside the shopping center. Particular attention should be paid to the following factors:

• Store area, comfortable conditions

It is very important that the person inside the room feels comfortable. We must not forget that when located in a shopping center, there can often be an influx of customers, especially if the product is in demand. That is why it is necessary to provide potential buyers with comfortable conditions.

• Location inside the shopping center

A significant factor here will be how far the room is from the entrance or exit. The closer, the better. This means that the client will first enter this store and make a purchase. If he was unable to find something suitable in another store, he can go to the one closest to the exit and make a purchase there.

• The shape of the room and a number of other aspects

The most spacious and comfortable room is a rectangular one. If it comes to apartment-type stores, then choosing them is not recommended.

You definitely need to find out about the possibility of redevelopment if necessary, and the condition of the premises. It is equally important to find out which store was located there previously - perhaps it had a bad reputation, which may scare off some of the customers of the new store.

About the audience and visitor flows

Many entrepreneurs grab the first opportunity to open in a particular shopping center, which is a serious mistake. It is very important to conduct a detailed analysis of the customer flows of a particular store. Moreover, both quantitative and qualitative indicators are important here. You can do this in one of the following ways:

1. Visit the shopping center on your own. It is worth staying in an open cafe next to the proposed premises. This will help you calculate how many people will pass nearby in a given time.
2. Find out about the profitability of opening in a shopping center by contacting another tenant or an employee of one of the stores.
3. Ask for the landlord's details.
4. Conduct a survey yourself on a local website or on social networks among the population that can be classified as the target audience. In this case, the questions can include information about the area of ​​residence, visits to shopping centers (specific names can be used).
5. Monitor check-ins of a specific customer segment (this is possible if there is access to information in other stores, for example, if a second or subsequent outlet is opened).

Additionally, the circle will be narrowed based on the price factor. You should also take into account the landlord's requirements and additional services.

Components of success

An entrepreneur must not forget that the success of a store consists of a number of factors:

• 30% of the correct choice of store format;
• 30% of the correctly selected location;
• 40% from the situation in the store, the work of the staff, the quality of the goods and a number of other points.

At the same time, it is worth paying attention not only to the shops, but also to the islands. This is the name for open-type display cases that are located in corridors and passages. This concept is often preferred for assessing the profitability of a shopping center operation. They are often used as seasonal points of sale. Of course, testing takes a lot of money and time. It makes sense to use it if there are other outlets and sufficient capital.

Engineering systems

Be sure to pay attention to whether the room contains:

• electricity;
• water supply (if required);
• fire alarm;
• sewerage (if necessary);
• heating;
• air conditioners;
• ventilation system.

You need to take a particularly responsible approach to studying information about available electrical capacities. If there are not enough of them, then the store simply will not be able to function normally.

When calculating the required electricity, you need to take into account all possible costs, including lighting, kettles, etc.

Pay attention to the features of your own business

Much depends on the specifics of sales. When choosing a format and location, you need to consider:

• what will be sold;
• what sizes will the goods have;
• how diverse is the assortment;
• whether visual advertising will be required for the products sold;
• flows of customers who are aimed at purchasing goods in a specific store (people, as a rule, do not stand in queues at island outlets);
• the popularity of the store or brand used by the entrepreneur (the more famous the brand, the easier it will be to sell the products and the more customers the store will have).

It is important not only to choose a store format, but also to understand how to promote your product. “Will it be possible to attract customers in this shopping center?” – this is exactly the question an entrepreneur should ask himself, having worked out the answer to it in detail. Some promotion methods simply cannot be used in certain premises or stores, which may result in rental refusal.

Installing an island - where is it more profitable?

Undoubtedly, the greatest success is found in those island retail outlets that are located near the entrance. But it is quite difficult to obtain such a position, especially if the entrepreneur does not have regular customers. Most often, well-known representatives and branded companies are located here.

Island points are also called “floating” because they can move without problems. This option is an excellent solution for beginners. The island format is most suitable for selling the following products:

• electronics;
• toys;
• bijouterie;
• souvenirs.

Here are three tips to help you get the most out of your island store placement:

1. Such formats take root best in places where people are focused specifically on purchasing goods, and not on entertainment or dining.
2. It is very important that there are no retail outlets with the same product nearby. Non-exclusivity kills this format.
3. No "shadow" placement. The retail outlet should not be blocked by many well-known stores.

It is imperative to pay attention to what exactly customers want to purchase in a particular shopping center. If they are used to buying branded items, then there is no point in placing a new unknown store there. The only exception is exclusive items such as jewelry and accessories. It is important to remember that:

1. You will have to interest potential buyers. To do this, you will have to spend money on a good, bright showcase.
2. Only experienced sellers will be able to sell in a large flow of buyers. It’s simply not possible to save on specialists.
3. In large shopping centers there are quite a lot of rules that you will have to follow. That is why it is necessary to familiarize yourself with the lease agreement in advance.

Stationary retail outlet - how to choose a more profitable one?

When choosing a stationary retail outlet, you need, first of all, to start from the flow of customers. At the same time, it is very important to separate potential (target) buyers from everyone else. There are a few questions you need to ask yourself:

1. What other products can a potential client buy in this shopping center?
2. Why do people buy certain products?
3. What can an entrepreneur offer his visitors that they won’t find anywhere else in this shopping center?

These questions will help you understand whether it is advisable to locate in a given shopping center and what level of traffic the store will have.

When choosing, a definite advantage will be the presence of the following facts:

• There are many stores on the floor that are visited by potential clients, and the goods in these outlets do not compete with the goods of the entrepreneur.
• If a large number of people of the desired price segment visit this shopping center.
• No competitors nearby. It’s even better if they are not in this shopping center at all. At the same time, you need to assess the level of competitiveness in order to assess your capabilities and make a decision on renting.

Placement in a shopping center or a free-standing store?

A shopping center is not always more promising than a free-standing store. Here you need to proceed from the products sold and the target segment.

For example, many representatives of the middle and low price segment (entrepreneurs selling goods at low prices) are located in separate premises. This is due to the fact that people often use public transport to get around. By the way, many of these outlets often become more successful than outlets in shopping centers.

But it is best to open branded stores in well-known and large shopping centers. This strategy is the most profitable for them.

To understand the difference, it is necessary to compare the advantages and disadvantages of both formats.

Stores located in shopping centers will have the following advantages:

• occupancy;
• uniform design style;
• presence of a manager;
• the presence of non-core anchor tenants that increase the flow of buyers.

As for the minuses, they are as follows:

• difficulties in obtaining a retail outlet;
• strict contract terms;
• high price;
• possible increase in rental price;
• dependence on the shopping center in terms of opening times;
• mandatory obedience to a unified work schedule;
• difficulties and limitations in the delivery of goods;
• restrictions regarding the use of elements that are branded for the entrepreneur’s store;
• the need to coordinate one’s own actions;
• the need to meet a range of visitor needs;
• different revenues depending on the days of the week (the peak is on weekends, on weekdays the sales volume is much lower);
• the danger of a decline in consumer interest in this shopping center.

Placing it in a free-standing store also has its advantages and disadvantages. The undoubted advantages include:

• constant eye contact with potential clients;
• customer focus on a specific product or brand;
• the ability to change the format of your work depending on surges in pedestrian traffic;
• independent determination of opening time;
• the ability to use any necessary advertising methods;
• no need to agree on operating hours or store design format.

The disadvantages include:

• the need to establish relationships with various service organizations;
• rather complex shapes of premises, which may not correspond to the wishes or standards of the organization.

An entrepreneur must make a decision himself, because, alas, there is no universal solution.

And now I’ll give advice from the book, in which the founders of the Mosigra company described the process of finding premises for their stores.

Crossing streams

Before choosing a location for a new point, you must pay attention to the intersection of streams. The store must be located in such a place that it is convenient to reach it: on foot, by car, by public transport or by metro.

An ordinary resident in a big city mostly walks along his main routes and almost never deviates from them. You need to place your store in such a way that it is as close as possible to the route people take. It should be located somewhere between houses, offices or your vacation spot.

For Moscow, such points are located near ring metro stations, as well as those located on the Garden Ring. The result is the intersection point of the main road and the main flow of public transport.

The next step is to select the area where you want to search. You can outline a small area near your chosen metro station. In the middle of the resulting area, you need to compare the visibility of the place from the roadway, the distance to the metro, some visual landmarks, and so on.

For example, at Kurskaya we were offered a place that was quite expensive, but located right in the metro building itself. A man came out of the subway and immediately a few meters away was our store! We assessed the pros and cons and decided to take a chance. They opened for a lot of money and were not disappointed. Today this is one of the most popular stores.

What to do if the store is located on the outskirts of the city? In fact, on the outskirts the share of self-pickup is much less than in the city center. Therefore, the accessibility of the store location from the stop does not play a special role. A store located at the final metro station will not work for the city, but only for this area. With this option, you don’t need to think about a store located somewhere on the street; you need to find a shopping center that is located closer to the metro station. This will be the place that attracts customer traffic. This is the place where you need to open a store.

For example, if the point is located on Teply Stan, then this is precisely the intersection of such flows: a metro station, a large number of houses located nearby, cafes, buses. We opened in a shopping center near the metro. The center itself was nothing special, but people constantly go there to shop. This is where we find them!

How to search

First you need to drive around the selected area and study it carefully. It is very important. For your first two or three stores, you need to check everything thoroughly in person. Only after this can you afford several agents, look at online advertisement projects and buy newspapers. The following sources work for the city of Moscow:

• A popular Internet resource is Avito. It has one hundred percent profitable offers, and they are on the site for several days.
• "Cyanogen". It compares favorably with good search. The options on it are very good, so agents and search professionals respond to them very quickly. Therefore, they are located on the site in very little time. In some cases, no more than half an hour.
• "Intercom". Its advantage is that here you can find offers that are not available on Avito and Cyan.
• Internet rental agency “Izrukvruki”, located near the metro station. If you don’t want to waste time yourself, you can hire an agent for a commission.

When searching for suitable premises, the most important thing is to determine exactly what you need from the premises. No need to choose the first one you come across. If you have ever rented a room or purchased a house, then you have probably encountered this. Only after inspecting a dozen rooms will you be able to understand what you really need to pay attention to.

The capricious bride problem

There is a capricious bride who lives in a palace. There are a hundred suitors. They enter the palace one by one, and the bride says “yes” or “no” to each of them. If she says “yes,” the others immediately leave, and the newlyweds get married. If the bride says “no,” then the groom leaves and the next one comes.

The challenge for the bride is to find the best of all. The solution to the problem of choosing a groom for a bride is as follows. For the first thirty-five people, she checks the range of various options and looks at their qualities. At thirty-five, she is already becoming more experienced and will be able to understand a person. Until the ninetieth person, she will choose the one who is similar to the best of the first thirty-five trial people, and then the selection criteria decrease sharply as the number of suitors decreases.

You need to agree with yourself that after inspecting the first fifteen premises and discussing all the details, you will not take any of the examined premises for yourself. And only after inspecting the first fifteen premises, you can start looking for it to purchase. This is difficult to do, but this stage must be completed, otherwise you can easily drive yourself into bondage for several years simply because the premises were chosen incorrectly.

Typically, such a search takes from one to two months. It will be impossible to find a room that is one hundred percent suitable for you. You will still need to sacrifice something. This could be: a sign, room area, distance to the metro, and so on. If you don’t look at many different rooms, then your choice will come down to one option. And this is not correct.

It should be noted that after examining the first fifty rooms, an important feeling will certainly appear. Right on the spot you will be struck by the idea that you need to take the premises without any options. We called this feeling of assholes - filching. If it tells you that the premises are suitable, then you trust it one hundred percent (provided that fifty premises have been looked at) and do not go anywhere until you have concluded the contract you need. It's your luck.

Search with your feet

When opening your first stores, it is imperative that you go through all the areas that you consider promising for locating a store. Everything needs to be properly assessed. You need to look for places that:

1. Seemingly empty
2. Where are advertisements posted saying they are for rent?

If with point two everything seems clear, then with the first point everything is not so simple. When you find an empty object, you need to clarify what was there, who lived there, and try to find contact information about the owner of this place. If you can’t find the owner, you need to take tape and stick a notice that you want to rent this premises. Out of fifty new places, we find at least one in this way.

It should be noted that we found one of our most profitable stores this way. We have decided on the search area. We received information that a pharmacy would be moving out of this place and contacted its owner. The owner of this place sent us to his agent. We signed all the necessary documents with him.

Another point was also found by foot, just the day before, when its owner wrote an advertisement for rent. Now it generates the most profit in this region. In the city of Moscow everyone does this.

Foot traffic

Those people who conduct a population census in rural areas, just by looking at the grandmother in the village, can tell how many piglets she has. The same will happen with new premises. Having examined many premises and opened several dozen stores, you will know, just by looking at the premises, whether it is necessary for you or not. If you still can’t do this, you need to come to the point and calculate the following important points:

• The number of people walking past your store door.
• The number of cars passing by at speeds of up to forty kilometers per hour. If the car goes faster, the driver simply won’t read the sign.
• How many people passed by the store?
• Do people in groups pass by?

This calculation needs to be done several times. Morning, afternoon, evening, weekdays and weekends.

For example, when opening a point on Tverskaya, we visited all the stores located within a radius of several blocks and talked with the sellers, asking them the following questions: how many people are in the store and at what time there are most of them, how many goods are sold per shift, and so on . If you talk to sellers correctly, they will be happy to share this information. As a result, we made no mistake.

Visibility of the selected location

You need to determine the distance from which the sign will be clearly visible. A very important point. How far is the pickup point from the place where the transport stops? If you are offered a place located somewhere in the courtyard, you should immediately think of this place as the top floor in a large shopping center. You can conditionally divide the flow of customers by sixteen. Any unnecessary movement, such as another passage or turning a corner, greatly reduces the flow of visitors. If you don't expect a lot of traffic (your store is used for pickup), then an inexpensive courtyard store near a metro station would be a good option.

Problem premises

Accordingly, premises without problems will cost much more. Large retail chains do not take premises that have any problems. Most likely, this is because it is not beneficial for them to tailor it to each specific case.

For you, a space with few problems may be a great option. Even if it will need to be modified.

When inspecting the room, you need to get a complete picture for yourself:

• Are there other departments? This may affect your work schedule.
• Roof leaking problem. If mold is found on the ceiling, this indicates that the roof may leak, and this means large material costs to eliminate the leak.
• Difficulties in placing the sign, or after placement it will be difficult to see.

You need to walk down the street where you plan to locate a store and see if there are empty or moving-out premises nearby. If there are many such points, this indicates that something is wrong in this area.

At Belorusskaya, in our premises next to it, there was a printing press reception area. As a result of the work, at first it was not possible to organize pickup.

At Park Kultury our store is located on the second line of houses. As a result, there were problems with the sign. We came up with a special sign design.

We stopped renting stores with these or similar problems only after the opening of our tenth store in Moscow.

People who drive cars

We need to count the people who pass by in cars. The point where cars pass at low speed will be much more profitable. In such places they can look around. The thing is that when you drive at high speed, your field of vision narrows. For example, at Kurskaya, our panel on a special bracket was located on the metro building parallel to the road. After the release of new technical regulations, the panel had to be removed. There is only one sign left. It was located perpendicular to the road, and looked like a red line located on the side, and from it it was difficult to understand what was being sold, cool games or gifts. As a result, we immediately noticed that car traffic had dropped significantly.

In the life of a motorist there are a large number of shops that he passes by without noticing them. For example, we drove past one such store for a whole year without noticing it, until we accidentally read on a blog that this store is located somewhere in the house. When we went there, it immediately became clear why they sell twenty units of goods a day, and we sell more than a hundred.

Another important option is parking. The driver will not always want to break the rules to get into the store. The direction of the road must be taken into account. You need an evening referral. On the “Park Kultury”, just opposite us, there was a store selling sporting goods. Our employee wanted to get into it many times in the morning when he was driving to work. He stood on the “morning side”. In the morning he had no time, as he was in a hurry to go to work; in the afternoon he had to cross six lanes and make an incomprehensible detour to turn around. As a result, the store eventually closed, but the person never visited it. This is a real dead place for people driving cars. You need to remember this. If you come across, for example, a “morning” shopping center, then with this option it would be a good idea to place a coffee shop.

Neighbours

We opened an anti-cafe (visitors pay money for the time spent in the cafe, and not for food). A common problem for small establishments is conflicts with neighbors. For example, one of our establishments called “Tsiferblat” was especially noted in this regard. Almost everyone wanted him to survive. For several weeks, police officers regularly came to the site in response to calls from neighbors. Knowing that an unpleasant situation could arise, we took several important steps:

• We agreed with the owner that if there were problems with the neighbors, he would solve them.
• Hang up a sign called “Educational Games Lovers Club” so that everyone thinks that they are doing something important and useful here.
• The head of the department invited all the neighbors to visit and showed everything that was inside.

Site layout

Each specific task requires its own planning. To figure out whether a layout is good or not, you need to imagine whether visitors will like it or not. A long sales floor will be worse than a square-shaped room. It will simply be inconvenient for visitors to enter a long hall. For example, Ufa “Mega” is a room in which the sides are in a ratio of two to five. They thought that we would allocate half of the premises for a back room, and it would turn out to be such a small compact store. We didn’t want to make a utility room. As a result, there was about two meters of space left between the racks. It turned out to be uncomfortable. It’s warm in the small room, but in the big one it’s like a tunnel like a subway.

We had a trading floor of forty meters, and the entire premises - seventy-six. The store and location are good, but the problem was that half of the total space was in the utility room. The price per meter is high, and half the area will not work. You also need to pay attention to this and everything should be properly calculated and taken into account.

For example, the cash register at the entrance to the store seems to insult the buyer. He gets the impression that he is not trusted. If a person is wondering whether to go into a store or not, then the cash register will scare him away.

Important information about shopping centers

We can assume that the shopping center practically does not care where it is located. The most important thing is what is located inside. For example, a shopping center with or without a cinema are two huge differences. A high-quality grocery hypermarket will immediately attract a large influx of people. For example, in one small city, two shopping centers located opposite each other started a war for a client. The shopping center whose bread tasted the best won.

The escalator is the enemy

If the escalator in a shopping center rises twice as high, this significantly reduces the flow. If your point is on the third floor, then divide the flow from the first by four (on average).

The first floor is the most visited. But it is the second most visited after the floor with a cinema and restaurants. If your store is on the fifth floor, and a cinema with restaurants is on the fourth, then traffic will drop by half.

You definitely need to check this, because there are very strange shopping centers.

We can highlight the following methods for effectively deploying a retail network, which are used by the most successful traders on the Russian market:

• franchising;
• purchasing an existing business through mergers or acquisitions;
• construction of our own stores using both our own and borrowed financing.

• financial;
• temporary.

If we talk about the second factor, its influence in rapidly developing markets is often even higher than the influence of the financial factor. If the network did not take any promising position, then it went to competitors and the network lost twice: the first time when it lost its possible income, and the second time when a competitor received this income.

If we rank each of the network development methods by capital intensity, we get the following sequence:

• purchasing a business (the costs are the highest, since in addition to the estimated value of the company’s property, it is also necessary to pay for some intangible assets of the acquired company, of course, if the company is not experiencing financial problems and is not in bankruptcy);
• construction;
• franchising.

• construction (maximum time spent: direct acquisition of land and construction, recruitment, training, etc.);
• acquisition of existing retail assets (time is required to complete the transaction and time to integrate business processes);
• franchising.

1. Networks that are completely owned by the owner, do not outsource logistics and other operations, and own all real estate objects that are used by the network to carry out its activities. In this case, we are dealing with a quasi-vertically integrated company that has margins at its disposal as a real estate owner (stores as real estate), as a retail operator (stores as points of sale and assortment management objects) and as a logistics operator (transportation and warehousing).
2. Networks that are wholly owned by the owner, partially outsource logistics and other operations, and lease all or part of the real estate that the network uses to carry out its activities. In this case, the network does not receive part of the income from outsourcing activities and does not receive income as the owner of the property.
3. A network based on franchising principles. Such a network not only does not receive income as a property owner and logistics operator, but also gives part of the margin on retail operations to the franchisees.

The role of logistics infrastructure in retail trade

The role of logistics infrastructure in retail trade is manifested in the following components:

1. Store location.
2. Selecting the type of premises for a retail trade enterprise.
3. Creation of infrastructure for individual retail outlets (stores).
4. The location and type of distribution center or network centers or simply warehouse facilities that support the activities of the retail network.

• availability of convenient access to the location.
• human flow, pedestrian or vehicular, passing near the location of the retail outlet.

Table 1. Real estate requirements for retail enterprises of various formats.

In addition to the fact that the type of premises of a retail outlet is largely determined by the format, it also depends on the type of location of the outlet. The following types of retail outlet locations are distinguished:

• street retail (or street retail) - free-standing stores located in a shopping area or on a shopping street with entrances from the street;
• as part of a shopping center;
• a free-standing store located in a residential area (such as a separate discounter or supermarket located in the center of a residential area);
• a stand-alone store located on a country road or in other parts of the city, which, due to its size, is itself a place of attraction for customers.

Let's consider the general approaches used when choosing a location for a retail outlet.

How do stores usually open? At best, after simple marketing research. A subjective analysis of already operating stores is carried out, fragmentary information about competitors is collected, a simplified sociographic portrait of the territory is drawn up: a poor area, an elite one... It is determined whether there is a large flow of people in the place where a new retail facility is planned. Further, the decision is dictated by intuition and common sense of the company’s owners and its managers.

But several months pass, and it turns out that the revenue is half as much as expected. It’s already too late to change anything: a lot of money has been invested in the equipment and renovation of the store, the rent has been paid a year in advance. Worse, often the firm has no methodology at all that can be regularly used to decide whether to close unprofitable stores.

The problem is further complicated by the fact that there is often a shortage of retail space on the market. You have to quickly evaluate offers coming from realtors, otherwise there is a danger of being left with nothing. There is only one way out in this situation - to use more advanced forecasting methods that help to avoid gross mistakes. One of them is the expert assessment method, which allows you to combine objective indicators and subjective opinions about a retail facility.

Mathematically, the relationship between the characteristics of a retail outlet and its financial result is described using a special normalizing coefficient. To obtain this indicator, an expert assessment of already operating chain stores is carried out according to a number of criteria. The subjective assessment—as quantified—is then compared to each store's revenue volume. This can be easily done by dividing the average (for example, average monthly) revenue of a retail outlet by the appropriate valuation value. The resulting number is the normalizing coefficient.

What is the accuracy of such forecasts and what does it depend on? If the standardization coefficients of different stores do not differ from each other by more than 5-10%, you are very lucky: you have acquired an indispensable business tool. In this case, the revenue forecast for new stores that you will have to evaluate will be within the same 10%.

However, the case described above is ideal. In reality, the picture you would like to get can be distorted by a number of subjective factors.

First, you need to correctly select the most important evaluation criteria and find a mechanism that allows you to describe them quantitatively. And this is not always easy. It is one thing to measure the retail space in square meters, another thing is to measure the intensity of the human flow flowing past the shops, or the level of well-being of the residents of the surrounding streets. You will have to show both patience and imagination.

For example, some experts determine the level of “eliteness” of an area in this original way: they count the number of expensive double-glazed windows on the windows and brands of expensive wines on display in the nearest supermarket. The “traffic” of a retail outlet can be determined by simply standing next to it and counting how many people pass by. A manager who knows the basics of merchandising only needs to look around the sales floor to appreciate the convenience of its layout.

To make this work easier, accurately select and quantify evaluation criteria, you can consult with a commercial real estate specialist. Speaking in general terms, the standard set of factors influencing the volume of revenue will be as follows:

• store area;
• distance from the entrance to the shopping center;
• the floor on which the store is located;
• convenience of the store's internal layout;
• the location of the shopping center in which the store operates;
• the number of people passing by the shopping center per unit of time;
• convenience of approach and access to the shopping center;
• availability of parking at the shopping center;
• competitive environment in the nearby area;
• sociography of the area.

The range of application of the expert assessment system is not limited to revenue forecasting in retail trade. It can be used to make management decisions in any area of ​​business.

How to choose a location for a store

Experienced entrepreneurs say that the success of a future store depends on three factors: location, location, location. It is precisely the issues of choosing the location of the future store that we will devote this material to.

There are several approaches to choosing a store. Moreover, for the success of a future enterprise, each one must be taken into account. One, we called it western, takes into account, first of all, economic factors: location relative to main transport interchanges, the welfare of the area, shopping areas, and so on.

The other, eastern, is more ambiguous. To a rational European it may seem strange at first glance, since the main thing for the prosperity of a store, according to this approach, is the direction of favorable and negative energy flows.

However, it is the eastern countries that today show the world the wonders of economic development. This means that it is worth trying to take into account a different view of business. We think everyone will agree with us that if there is at least one chance in 100 that using this approach will lead to prosperity, then it is worth using it.

Let's assume that you already have several proposals for store premises that are quite interesting at first glance. The first thing you need to assess first is competition. Are there already similar stores in the area? How many are there? How do they plan their product mix? What are their strengths and weaknesses? Visit them all. Observe for several evenings how trade is going, the behavior of customers, and the degree of their satisfaction. Moreover, it is necessary to visit stores in the evening, when most residents return from work and buy groceries. This will allow you to not only imagine the market size, but also the potential revenue.

The next stage of selection involves developing an offensive map, on which you, as a true commander in chief, will plot the enemy’s positions and outline your own.

As you know, each store creates a zone of influence around itself, which consists of three subzones: near, middle and far. Knowing these zones is vital because they determine the store's future revenue. Thus, according to merchandisers Kira and Ruben Kanayan, residents of the near zone account for 60-70% of the revenue, the middle zone – about 20% and the distant zone – about 15%.

Typically, the near zone is located within a radius of up to 1 kilometer. To be more precise - a 10-minute walk away. Since a walk through a typical Russian city resembles military throws over rough terrain (you have to cross busy roads, look for rare illuminated paths in parks, go around long buildings, not to mention the numerous trenches left by the workers of the valiant Vodokanal), then in reality the zone of influence resembles a strongly curved ellipse. The average shopping area has a similar appearance, 1-2 kilometers away from the store for pedestrians and 2-5 kilometers for motorists. The long-distance shopping zone is located within 5-6 kilometers for a pedestrian (subject to a convenient location relative to public transport stops). However, these are just approximate zone parameters.

In fact, shopping zones have one significant feature - their radius of action directly depends on the size of the store: the smaller the store, the smaller its zone of influence.

Keeping all this in mind, plot your zones of influence and the zones of influence of your competitors on the combat map. Lots of intersections? Choose the option with the fewest major competitors.

However, one more observation. A large number of direct competitors nearby is not always a bad thing. When there is a really large concentration of stores of the same profile, a “shopping center effect” often occurs when, when intersecting, shopping areas do not cancel each other out, but only strengthen them.

Correctly identifying zones of influence will allow you to obtain several more key factors that influence the future success of the store: the number of residents in the zone of influence and the relative purchasing power of one resident.

So, the shopping areas have been identified, we move on to the next stage - assessing the pedestrian (or vehicular) flow. To do this, just go to the main entrance of the proposed store and count how many people (cars) will pass by within an hour. Such a study needs to be repeated at different times of the day to calculate the average human flow per day. Of course, the better store is the one that a larger number of potential customers pass by every day.

In order to make a final decision on choosing a specific premises, compare such indicators as the possibility of parking (in the number of cars), the length of storefronts, the area of ​​the sales floor, the distance to public transport stops (in minutes walking distance to them).
Well, have you decided on your favorite? If not, read about the eastern approach to choosing a location for a store.

Eastern approach

So, all the calculations have been carried out, but the selection problem has not been solved. It's time to take an Eastern approach to choosing the best possible store premises.

First of all, carefully examine the street on which the premises are located. It is important that there are no funeral homes, cemeteries, hospitals, railroads or nuclear power plants nearby. Neighborhoods with abandoned buildings and landfills are also undesirable. Ideally, the area where the store is located should give the impression of wealth and prosperity. It’s great if the front of the store faces a fountain or park.

But even if everything seems fine at first glance, be sure to inquire about the reason why the previous owner of the store wants to part with it. If he goes broke, it's a bad sign. And if all the previous owners of the store were forced to close the business, you should seriously think about how much you need this particular premises.

It is best if the previous owner sells the store because he is expanding and acquiring a larger premises.

Now go to the main entrance and pay attention to the location of traffic flows.

It is very bad when the building is located at a T-shaped or V-shaped intersection - in this case, a huge flow of negative energy will be directed towards the store. The same flow will be directed towards the store if its façade faces the corner of the building opposite.

Ideally, the building is located at an intersection and the store entrance crosses the corner.

Pay special attention to where the store door opens. The orientation of the door to the southern directions, where the Wealth zone is located, is considered favorable. It is undesirable for the front door to look at two buildings, one of which is located behind the other - such a combination symbolizes theft.

The central entrance should not look at a lonely building towering above its surroundings. This is a symbol of the enemy. It is better to completely abandon this premises for a store if such a building is located to the west of it. This is a clear sign of bankruptcy.

It is a very bad sign if the front door faces a combination of two high-rise buildings separated by a narrow street. This attracts misfortune.

It is also not good if there is a construction site nearby: crane towers create a destructive flow of negative energy.
The store is favorably influenced by the nearby children's and educational institutions, playgrounds, churches, fitness rooms and swimming pools.

If the store premises are located in a separate building, pay special attention to its shape and roof. It is desirable that the building has a rectangular shape. The roof should also be symmetrical. If it is slanted to one side, then well-being can go downhill.

Now a few words about display cases: in retail outlets, display cases should not start at floor level. When a store is too open, profits will leak out of it. Large display windows can be limited with curtains.
However, it is not recommended to install mirrored windows. They block positive energy.

All retail outlets are favorably influenced by awnings and canopies - they block negative energy.

If, after our recommendations for choosing a store from the point of view of Feng Shui, you do not have a single suitable room, choose the one that is affected by the least number of unfavorable signs. Almost all harmful environmental influences can be neutralized.
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Shopping centers vs. street retail

DELA.ru continues a joint project with the portal of the open database of commercial real estate in Krasnoyarsk www.knkras.ru - on our website you can find out information about the office, retail and warehouse space available in the city, get acquainted with the latest trends in this area and receive professional advice on issues purchase and rental of commercial premises. In today's article we will talk about choosing the format of a retail space.

Location, attractiveness for the consumer and convenience of the internal structure directly affect the effective operation of the outlet. And this, you see, is very important for any owner of a trading business. We have identified two equivalent alternatives for locating your store - renting premises in a shopping center (shopping center) and street retail. What are their advantages and disadvantages?

Dry terminology

Shopping center, shopping center, shopping center or shopping center(German Einkaufszentrum - “gallery”, “passage”, “shopping and entertainment complex”, “mall”) - a group of retail enterprises managed as a single whole and located in the same building or complex of buildings.

Street retail(English: Street-retail - “street trade”) is a type of retail real estate, which is retail premises located on the first floors of buildings, having a separate entrance and their own display windows.

Street retail has existed on earth since ancient times. With the advent of cities, trade appeared, and with the advent of trade, trading shops began to open. As a rule, they were located in the city center, which, in turn, was prestigious, but also influenced the price of land rental. Expensiveness and prestige to this day remain properties that are inherent in street retail. But today there is a serious alternative to it - shopping and shopping and entertainment centers.

Street retail. Good and bad

Brands that care about their image and do not want to change the format usually try to stand out and do not want to fit into someone else’s concept. Therefore, their desire to occupy separate and autonomous retail space is understandable.

Individual stores in the center mean recognition and unique style

Street retail allows you to fully follow this principle. Linking a store to a specific location gives a brand the opportunity to uniquely define its style. Thus, a store opened in a street retail format will in itself be an advertisement for the entire brand. And it doesn’t matter whether the consumer entered the newly opened store or not, because in this case, even an ordinary passerby, paying attention to the sign, will imprint information about the brand in his memory, which is a definite plus for the owner.

In addition, the street retail format is practically immune to the crisis. In this segment, demand always exceeds supply, and, having opened his store on a street with high human traffic, it is extremely difficult for the owner to remain “without pants.”

As for the disadvantages of the street retail format, of course, they also exist. First of all, this is a strong dependence on street traffic. Such stores should be opened only in a busy place somewhere in the city center, or you should find a way to increase traffic in other ways, for example, with a strong advertising campaign, which, in turn, requires significant costs.

Also, street retail is a rather expensive format. Prices for really good places are high and, it must be said, most of them are already occupied, and their owners are unlikely to want to easily lose their assets.

In addition, opening a stand-alone store comes with some other challenges. This includes constant efforts about landscaping, and visits from the SES and other government surveillance services. It is also worth saying that the store owner is less insured against acts of vandalism.

But even taking into account all the shortcomings of the street retail format, its advantages, if used correctly, more than cover them.

In Krasnoyarsk, the most interesting places for “street trading” are Mira Avenue and Lenin Street on the left bank and Avenue named after. newspaper "Krasnoyarsk Rabochiy" - on the right.

Of course, there are some nuances here too. So traffic (vehicle and pedestrian) on Mira Avenue from the street. Robespierre to st. Trade unions are declining sharply. The same “disease” occurs at the beginning of Lenin Street (from Karatanov Street to Paris Commune Street (and quite possibly to Surikov Street). Such issues always need to be taken into account. It is best to spend the day near the premises in which you are going to place a store , count passers-by and understand whether this is your target traffic in terms of purchasing power and other characteristics.

Mall or shopping center. All the pros and cons

Shopping centers are convenient for both the buyer and the owner of a trading business. By deciding to rent space in a shopping center, the owner will save himself from many associated hassles and costs.

We should start with the fact that renting premises in a shopping center is much cheaper than renting premises in a street retail format. In addition, all responsibility for security, internal structure, appearance, administrative problems, etc. will rest on the shoulders of the shopping center, not the tenant.

Renting in a shopping center means accessibility and no hassle in maintaining the premises

In addition, we must not forget that a shopping center is a brand that runs its own advertising campaign not only for its tenants, but also for consumers, which, in turn, increases traffic to the shopping center, and, accordingly, tenants. And every day the consumer is increasingly inclined to go not to stand-alone stores, but to shopping centers that provide a huge selection of brands for every taste.

In a word, the shopping center can be compared to the almighty Atlas, who holds an entire planet of different brands and trademarks on his mighty shoulders.

This titan takes care of its tenants and tries with all its might to make their lives more comfortable and profitable - the lives of each of them.

And here lies one, but very serious problem - competition literally next door. After all, by gathering 10 stores selling sportswear on one floor, the shopping center literally provokes its tenants into fierce competition, which not everyone is able to withstand with dignity. And if we also take into account that for shopping centers there is such a thing as anchor tenants, then the issue of competition becomes even more relevant and less solvable for many.

Let us clarify that the anchor tenant is an already established and well-known brand, that is, a large company that has existed on the market for a long time and has accumulated its clients. Anchor tenants usually occupy about 50-60% of all retail space in a shopping center. Often, large federal players entering a shopping center demand that their product groups not overlap with other tenants. That is why in many shopping centers you will not find two large stores of household appliances, etc. Although there are also large shopping centers that can afford not to accept such conditions from tenants.

One of the latest trends in the market is the specialization of shopping centers in the following areas: children’s (“Emerald City”, “Right”), furniture (“Seven Elephants”, “Continent”, “Republic”), household goods (“Atmosphere of Home”, “Commander”), sports (“Babylon”, “Extreme”). The development of these shopping centers is proceeding at a slower pace - it is objectively more difficult to find tenants that complement each other in the same segment. Moreover, each new shopping center in this format lures away part of the traffic from existing market players.

In case of specialization, the most interesting target traffic is built in the shopping center. But there is also a disadvantage here - when starting up, it is difficult for owners to refuse the tempting offer of a good tenant who is not included in the concept. That is why the concept of a shopping center can change over time.

When choosing a shopping center, you need to familiarize yourself with the anchor tenants - look at their product range. If you overlap with them and your goods are in the same price category, you have practically no chance of winning and long-term existence in this shopping center. The anchor tenant has much more traffic - visitors come to him first. And if they see a similar product there, then they will buy it there. So, differ either in the price category and quality of the product, or in the product itself - change the direction of your activity.

So, welcome to the arena. Mall vs street retail

Let's summarize the pros and cons, adding some more points.

What to choose: shopping center or street retail, depends on the goals and capabilities of the retail business owner

Street retail. Behind:

• Maintaining the uniqueness of your brand.
• Investing in a retail space when purchasing it, rather than renting it.
• Development of “your” consumer.
• Good profitability with the right approach.
• Large attendance with the right choice of location.
• Unaffected by crisis.

Street retail. Against:

• Expensive rental rates and high prices when purchasing real estate.
• Strong dependence on the professionalism of the business owner.
• Strong dependence on place.
• A “set” of related hassles, such as SES, fire supervision, cleaning, security, etc. (even when renting premises).

SEC. Behind:

• The shopping center takes on all the troubles of landscaping, cleaning, security and other small nuances.
• The shopping center is a brand in itself, and its tenants are advertised along with it.
• Quite reasonable rental rates.
• Large attendance, quite understandable traffic.

SEC. Against:

• Very serious competition.
• About 50% of anchor tenants are out of competition.
• Lack of possibility of purchasing the premises.
• The actions of the management company (maintaining the stated concept or changing it) may not always benefit you.

That's probably all. So who won? Mall or street retail? Here, as it should be, everything depends on the goals of the owner of the trading business. If it is not possible to invest a lot of money in street retail, then the choice is on the side of the shopping center. If it is important for the owner of a retail business to distinguish his brand from others and develop “his” consumer, then he should choose street retail.

In general, for every “if” there is a certain “then”, and the choice depends on the capabilities and goals of the owner.

If you are going to develop a chain of stores, then to successfully solve this problem, you will need to develop and implement a system for searching for premises. Let's look at such a system using the example of the development of a pharmacy chain.

The first step is to purchase, on paper or electronic media, a fairly detailed map of the city, on which individual houses, transport stops, etc. are highlighted.

Then you need to get information from the pharmaceutical committee (or through any other channels) about all the pharmacies in the city and their affiliation with one or another network.

When we map pharmacies into areas, we categorize them based on their competitiveness.

• Municipal pharmacies are weak market players; you can hardly pay attention to them, but in the future someone will buy them, and then they will be successful. It is necessary to evaluate who is more advantageously located in relation to the main consumer flow.
• Individual commercial pharmacies or small chains, medium-sized competitors.
• Commercial networks with developed technologies and management are the strongest competitors.

It is interesting to look at the indicator - the “density” of pharmacies per 1000 inhabitants, and compare it by region. From these figures we can make an assumption about the saturation of the local market and assess its development potential.

If there are 300 pharmacies in the city today, then within a year another 100 will open. They will open in different places and will be successful to varying degrees. Of the existing ones, some will close because they will be uncompetitive, working with outdated technologies. So, in those places where newly opened pharmacies will remain, you should be there. This happens from year to year, and it is still possible to say for sure that not all good places in cities are occupied by strong competitors. This situation will last another year or two. And then competition will come mainly due to marketing activities to attract traffic, tougher price competition.

Features of searching for premises for different formats

We work with a map of residential areas.

We are looking for where there are options - the entrance to a residential area - but there are no competitors nearby. Usually at the entrance to a residential area, this is a very clear location - literally ten to fifteen meters from the final stops, etc. This situation is promising for you and is a priority for exploring the possibility of putting your pharmacy there. Mark it in color on the map! This is the highest localization priority. The next one is where there are competitors, but weak ones. This is the second priority, in a different color.

We work with the map on streets with high traffic.

We highlight the central streets of the districts, transfer points, places near large shopping complexes. We localize places that are interesting in terms of traffic and flow quality; there are probably pharmacies there. We assess the degree of competition and assign the highest priority to those places where competitors are weak or absent.

We work similarly with the map for shopping complexes.

You must immediately begin to establish contacts with the owners and management companies of existing and under construction shopping centers and indicate your interest. They, as a rule, ask for an application describing the characteristics - power requirements, ventilation, availability of a bathroom, finishing, etc. It is necessary to constantly maintain these contacts, as well as gradually establish them with developers and large food retail companies.

We are starting to go to sites in locations with the highest priority and assess our ability to install pharmacies. Three options may arise - rent, purchase, construction. First of all, you are probably interested in renting, although other options can, in principle, be considered.

In one to two weeks, it is quite possible to establish contacts with the owners and managers of shopping centers, assess on the spot the possibilities for making priority efforts to evaluate and select a location for opening your pharmacies, and look at the most promising options.

After the initial personal assessment, we begin active work with real estate agencies. First, it is worth concluding agreements and assigning tasks to 7–8 agencies, in order to then select 3–5 of the most effective ones. We set them tasks to:

• requirements for the location - traffic, area, rental range, etc.
• specific places - we want premises here and here, here are the requirements, look for options
• possible objects - this is the specific premises we want, negotiate

The criteria for the offers you are interested in should be formulated in as much detail as possible - locations, state of documents, rent, etc. You must visit each agency with which you are working at least once a month, otherwise work with them will gradually fade away.

Within a few weeks, an influx of proposals appears from the agencies with which we are working. Every day one or two proposals may appear, with which you need to work to evaluate them until a decision is made to open.

Evaluation of the characteristics of the proposed objects,making decisions about opening

It is appropriate to emphasize here that the main part - more than 80% of proposals - is eliminated at the preliminary stage of assessment, when we calculate the possible turnover, check ownership documents and the transfer of former apartments to non-residential stock, find out the terms of the lease and use the coefficient of two times the excess of the estimated turnover over the output turnover to breakeven.

Opening pharmacies and bringing them to break-even

Planning, coordinating and monitoring the implementation of actions to open and bring a pharmacy to break-even. Activities are broadly grouped as follows

• Repair
• Layout (trade equipment and office equipment)
• Hiring
• Preparation of all documents and licensing
• Providing technical specifications for opening a pharmacy
• Marketing promotion activities
• Control and increased attention before breaking even

This stage takes a significant time resource. Therefore, the sooner the pharmacy manager is hired and the more coordination and control of the implementation of the opening plan and achieving break-even can be delegated to her (him), the better.

Ideally, a candidate should be in mind already at the stage of consideration of the premises, so that if a decision is made to open, the manager will be immediately hired.

This option leaves you time to perform your other functions.