Different retail chains typically appeal to distinct target audiences. And still, even within a single retailer, different stores can draw very distinct audience groups. Gaining a nuanced view of chains’ customers can help inform local merchandising tactics such as product placements, assortment, and promotions. Placer offers a wide range of demographic & psychographic datasets, allowing you to uncover specific preferences and attributes of retail customers and tailor your local offering to their needs.

You’ll be able to answer these questions after reading this article:

1. What are the key demographic differences between stores?
2. Are there notable differences in audience psychographic attributes or preferences across retail stores?
3. What are the key demographic differences between competing retail chains?

Get started with the following steps:

Step 1: Understand the demographic composition of stores’ shoppers using Audience Overview

a. Go to Explore and type your POI^{Point (Location) of Interest} in the search bar. Up to 8 POIs can be selected at one time by checking the box next to the POI or on the left sidebar. The number of selected POIs will appear at the bottom of the sidebar. Click Open Report.

b. In the Overview report, scroll down to Audience Overview. Here you can get a snapshot of audience demographics in the trade area of the store, to assess the typical attributes of the population that visits the store.

‍Step 2: Dive deep into consumer attributes and preferences using Audience Profile for stores

a. In the Property section, go to the Demographics report. In Audience Profile, you can discover a wealth of demographic & psychographic attributes of consumers using different third-party datasets. The datasets available on your account can be found below the map. Click Compare to add stores for comparison.

b. In the example below, we look at Experian Mosaic’s audience segments in the trade areas of 2 Five Below stores in greater Salt Lake City, UT, and Denver, CO.

We can see the West Jordan location draws many customers from the Promising Families segment, while the Denver location draws a larger ratio of the Singles and Starters segment. These nuances may suggest different needs of the customers that visit those locations, which can be translated to different product assortments and placements at each store.

c. In another example, we selected the AGS Behavior & Attitudes dataset from the drop-down. This dataset helps you gain deep insights into consumers’ preferences and lifestyles.

We can see the West Jordan location draws more customers that are likely to have an interest in remodeling their house and also in a home theatre. These nuances may suggest different needs of the customers that visit those locations, which can be translated to different product assortments and placements at each store.

Note: Audience Profile is available for individual stores in the Property section and for an aggregation of all chain stores in the Chain section. The analysis presented in Step 2 can be similarly conducted for the entire chain.

Learn about Audience Profile for properties and Audience Profile for chains.

Pro Tip: Customers may find different datasets in Audience Profile depending on the company’s subscriptions. While several datasets are available to all customers at no extra cost, a variety of additional datasets are available on Placer's Marketplace for an additional fee.