Even with the rise of digital channels, a physical store presence is still central to driving sales, engaging customers, and building brand visibility. However, the cost of real estate is high and is often one of the largest outgoings of any retail organisation present on the high street. So how can organisations ensure that they are still meeting the needs of their customers, whilst optimising their cost through a tailored footprint strategy? What is the optimal number of stores needed to meet customer demand? Which stores should be retained and closed across a market?
Understanding your customer base is essential to developing a successful footprint optimisation strategy. Knowing who your customers are, in which locations, and what their shopping habits are enables an organisation to tailor their services accordingly. In the Telco space, we know that customers value face to face interaction with store representatives when looking for new handset devices, however, we also know that once they have conducted their research, many customers will choose to purchase the product or service online. As such, there are many questions Telco companies should be asking when it comes to their customers and their store footprint;
By understanding the above, an optimised store footprint can be developed.
BearingPoint has pioneered an approach to optimise future physical footprint requirements, servicing customer driven demand across channels whilst minimising costs.
BearingPoint’s data-driven approach to footprint optimisation brings together internal customer and transactional data with external demographic and venue score data, alongside our deep supply-chain and retail experience, to answer key commercial questions: