Commercial Real Estate Analytics: Leveraging Foot Traffic Data for Smarter Decisions

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Commercial real estate professionals are increasingly turning to data and analytics to make informed investment decisions, assess asset classes, and develop location intelligence. This trend is driven by the growing availability of big data, including foot traffic data, which provides valuable insights into consumer behavior and market trends.

Here's why foot traffic data is crucial for commercial real estate analytics:

  • Predictive Insights: Foot traffic data reveals how people are using a specific area, uncovering trends in frequency and length of visits, and helping CRE investors and developers predict future behavior.
  • Improved Market Analysis: Foot traffic data complements traditional CRE data sources like property type and tenant data, providing a more comprehensive understanding of market dynamics.
  • Informed Site Selection: By analyzing foot traffic patterns, CRE professionals can identify optimal locations for new developments and make data-driven decisions about existing properties.
  • Competitive Advantage: In a crowded market, foot traffic data allows CRE professionals to differentiate themselves by offering investors deeper insights and a more nuanced understanding of market opportunities.

In the high-stakes world of commercial real estate (CRE), success hinges on maximizing investment opportunities. Traditional data like property type and tenant information is no longer enough. Today, savvy CRE investors leverage foot traffic data to gain a crucial edge.

Foot traffic data goes beyond transactions, revealing how people actually use an area. By analyzing real-time location data, investors can measure average foot traffic, track trends in visitor frequency and duration, and even understand how migration patterns affect population density. This deeper understanding of behavioral trends helps them make informed decisions about where to invest, unlocking valuable insights that were previously unavailable.

Foot traffic data is not just about numbers, it's about understanding the future. It allows CRE professionals to anticipate how people will use spaces, making them vanguards of investment for the world we build. This data is no longer a luxury, it's essential for making smart decisions and securing a competitive advantage in the evolving CRE landscape.

How to work with foot traffic data in commercial real estate analytics

Our datasets can help you understand foot traffic to almost any location. Unacast helps you leverage the power of foot traffic data through our three-step process:

foot traffic analytics

Step 1: Gather raw data

We utilize GPS location data for its superior accuracy, providing precise details about pedestrian activity in any defined urban area, Point of Interest, or venue.

foot traffic analytics

Step 2: Contextualize the data

Our advanced algorithms transform raw pings into meaningful events, identifying dwelling time, travel patterns, and assigning relevant retail venues and brands.

foot trafficfoot traffic analytics

Step 3: Create curated foot traffic datasets

Unacast offers three datasets tailored to your specific needs: Foot Traffic Data, Trade Area Data, and Cross-Visitation Data.

Step 4: Unacast's team of data scientists and business strategists further assists you by:

  • Optimizing Data Visualization: We help you gain valuable insights from data by presenting it in a clear and actionable format.
  • Developing Targeted Strategies: Our experts guide you in asking the right questions to extract the most valuable insights from foot traffic data and develop data-driven strategies for your specific goals.

By leveraging foot traffic data and Unacast's expertise, commercial real estate professionals can make smarter decisions, maximize investment opportunities, and gain a competitive edge in the market.

Additional Resources:

Schedule a meeting with a Unacast commercial real estate analytics expert today to unlock the power of foot traffic data for your business.

Frequently Asked Questions

Discover how analyzing real-world movement patterns can reveal valuable trends in customer behavior, optimize business operations, and enhance strategic decision-making.

What is site selection and why is it important?

Site selection is the strategic process by which businesses identify, evaluate, and choose optimal locations for their operations. This process is paramount as the location of a business directly influences factors such as accessibility, visibility, profitability, and market longevity. For retailers, the right site can mean higher customer footfall and increased sales. In real estate, a well-selected site can promise lucrative returns on investment and tenant stability. Financial service firms leverage site selection to position their branches or ATMs in high-demand areas. Essentially, site selection plays a pivotal role in ensuring the success and growth of a business by aligning its physical presence with market opportunities and demands.

How does location intelligence enhance site selection?

Location intelligence refers to the harnessing of geospatial data to derive actionable insights, which can significantly enhance the site selection process. By analyzing data like consumer demographics, foot traffic patterns, competitor locations, trade area data, and more, businesses can make more informed decisions about where to establish or expand their operations. Location intelligence allows for a deeper understanding of market dynamics, revealing hidden opportunities or potential pitfalls. For instance, retailers can identify gaps in the market, real estate professionals can forecast property value trends, and financial service providers can assess areas with high customer demand. Advanced tools, like those offered by Unacast, further refine these insights by leveraging AI and machine learning, enabling more precise and timely decision-making.

What challenges do businesses face in the site selection process?

Unacast provides invaluable support to businesses during the site selection process through its advanced location data and analytics software, all powered and refined by Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning technologies. The company offers a suite of products designed to deliver accurate, actionable, and comprehensive location intelligence. This data proves crucial for businesses looking to understand consumer behavior, analyze traffic patterns, evaluate competitor locations, and much more. With Unacast’s robust tools, businesses in retail, real estate, and financial services can derive insightful information necessary for making strategic, informed site selection decisions. The platform not only provides reliable data but also ensures it is readily actionable for businesses, whether they are looking to open a new store, invest in property, or expand their financial services to new locations.

What types of location data are crucial for informed site selection?

Demographic data offers insights into the age, income, and lifestyle of people in a particular area, helping businesses understand their potential customer base. Foot traffic data provides information on the number of people visiting a location, which is crucial for retailers to estimate the store's potential popularity and for real estate professionals to assess an area's vibrancy and demand. Geographic Information System (GIS) data helps in visualizing and analyzing geographical details, supporting companies in identifying accessible and strategically located sites. Understanding the proximity to competitors, accessibility, and the socio-economic profile of the surrounding areas is also vital. Unacast’s platform aggregates and analyzes these various data types, providing a holistic view that significantly empowers businesses in their site selection endeavors.

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