“Placer’s trade area, traffic routes, and visitor journey data gave us the confidence to relocate an underperforming location. The new site increased patient accessibility and visibility while doubling patient volumes in 3 months, all with a 15x ROI on our annual Placer subscription.”

-- Director of Corporate Development

‍The Challenge‍

Urgent Care Operator seeks insights to inform strategic relocation of underperforming clinic

A national Class A+ retail urgent care operator with over 100 locations struggled with an underperforming clinic that had low patient volumes. To assess whether a move into the nearby town center made sense for the clinic, the corporate development team at the urgent care operator sought to answer the following questions:


1. Did the performance of “first mover” retail co-tenants suggest the new location would increase community awareness and visibility? 


2. Based on trade area reach and traffic routes, did the new location offer better patient accessibility compared to the old one?

‍The Solution‍

Placer Traffic Routes, Trade Area, and Visitor Journey insights prove strength of new location

First, the urgent care operator’s corporate development team used Placer to benchmark the town center’s performance, focusing on key retail co-tenants like a regional supermarket chain and Starbucks. Placer’s Overview Metrics report showed the town center attracted a healthy amount of foot traffic at 1.3 million visits with +29% Yo2Y growth. The supermarket and Starbucks also reported positive Yo2Y visit growth, at 22% and 23% respectively. These were good signs, suggested that relocating the clinic to the town center could significantly improve its performance.

Next, the team analyzed the routes visitors took to the town center to determine how the new location might improve patient accessibility. Patients visiting the current clinic, located in a medical park with a single access road, had to come from the east or west. In contrast, the new site sat at a major intersection. Placer’s Visitor Journey - Routes report confirmed that visitors to the town center arrived from all directions. The new location captured heavy traffic from the north and south (~19K vehicles daily), as well as the east and west routes patients had been using to reach the old clinic.

Learn more about Visitor Journey -Routes

Furthermore, Placer’s Visitor Journey report indicated that patients at the old location already visited the town center for groceries and coffee before and after their clinic appointments. By relocating the clinic to the town center, the team anticipated increased visibility, community awareness, and patient convenience. These insights gave the team the confidence to move forward with the relocation.

Learn more about Visitor Journey

‍The Outcome

SUCCESS: New clinic location sees 2x daily patient volume within 3 months, 15x ROI on Placer cost

Placer's Traffic Routes, Trade Area, and Visitor Journey insights gave the team the confidence to strategically invest $1 million in the relocation. Within three months, Placer’s Trade Area Coverage report also demonstrated that the new location had a broader reach, capturing a higher percentage of visits from various distances compared to the old location.

Learn more about Trade Area Coverage by Distance

Further, during that same 3 month window the clinic saw a 100% increase in patient volumes and a 15x ROI on Placer’s annual subscription - all from relocating one location.

Building on this success, the urgent care operator’s corporate development team applied the strategy to relocate ten more clinics for improved performance.

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