“Placer.ai gave us the ability to see behind the scenes, providing critical competitive insights. The difference this makes in the site selection process compared to other methods is like night and day. Placer is a secret weapon for making strategic decisions that pay off.”
-- John Bullock, Marketing Analyst, Dufresne Spencer Group
The Challenge
Dufresne Spencer Group seeks to guide site selection and new market expansion
Dufresne Spencer Group (DSG) is the largest licensed operator of Ashley HomeStores, a popular furniture retailer in the U.S. With hundreds of stores spanning multiple regions, DSG needed a solution that would allow them to make data-backed decisions and secure locations that maximize foot traffic and new store revenue. When a key rival opened a store in a new area to great success, Dufresne Spencer Group (DSG) sought to determine whether the area offered a viable opportunity for its Ashley furniture brand to grow.
To achieve these goals, John Bullock, a marketing analyst at DSG, turned to Placer.ai to find out: how could the DSG team optimize their site selection strategy for strong foot traffic and new store revenue?
The Solution
Placer’s site selection and trade area audience data differentiates strong and weak sites
DSG’s site selection analysis involved two steps, each intended to deliver differentiated viewpoints on a possible site:
1. Demographic and traffic analysis comparing competitor and other Ashley HomeStores to the demographics of the new site.
2. A site selection report to confirm that the area of the competitor’s new store would be a good fit in terms of cannibalization, co-tenancy, and other factors.
To start, the DSG team geofenced the competitor store in the new DMA to further assess market potential based on the competitor store’s foot traffic performance and customer persona insights. Using Placer’s Audience Profile report paired with the Experian Mosaic dataset, the DSG team discovered that the competitor’s new store captured a high percentage of affluent customers (Experian Mosaic’s "Power Elite” customer segment), a good sign given that Ashley stores that similarly captured a high percentage of the “Power Elites” segment were found to outperform Ashley stores that primarily served other segments (e.g. the "Thrifty Habits" segment). The competitor also shared similarity with the top-performing Ashley store for other top segments.
Learn more about Audience Profile
Next, the DSG team looked at top performing stores in their portfolio and identified various “success factors” that they would be important considerations for potential site locations within the target market, with a focus on metrics that indicated promising growth potential. The team then used these success factors to filter and narrow down potential new store locations using Placer's site selection report.
Learn more about Site Selection
With key demographic and psychographic factors aligning with the top-performing store, and a site selection report suggesting strong sites in the market, the DSG team felt more comfortable entering the new market and opening a location it felt could thrive in a competitive landscape.
The Outcome
SUCCESS: DSG opens new store, a strong location that outperforms peer by 57%
After opening the new store, the DSG team returned to Placer to analyze the new location’s performance. The results were impressive and hard to dismiss:
1. The new store strongly outperformed another new store in the same metro (chosen without the use of Placer data) with 57% higher foot traffic and 48% higher average ticket size.
2. The new store ranked in the 91st percentile for the furniture and home furnishing category at the state level.
3. Nationally, the new store ranked in the top 80% of more than 600 Ashley HomeStores.
Placer data is now an integral part of all future DSG site selection efforts.
