5 Ways Property Groups Can Use Location Data To Build Their Portfolio

November 23, 2020

Location data, generated by opted-in consumer mobile devices, has long been used for ad targeting. Today, more businesses are seeing the potential of using location data to power market research and decision-making. For real estate developers, location-based insights are key to getting the information they need to match a business with the right building and neighborhood. In the wake of COVID-19, many businesses are dealing with how to adapt their strategies, and the commercial real estate (CRE) industry is no exception. Commercial property groups need to pivot their investments and diversify their portfolio to adapt to current market conditions. So, how can property investors use location data to build out their real estate portfolios?

Let’s look at how property groups can use location data to optimize their portfolios:

Commercial Real Estate

5. Measure Consumer Foot Traffic at Commercial Locations

Location data provides visibility into the frequency of visits to your properties. It can also help you learn more about your busiest times of day or week, and who is visiting your stores.  Not only can you use this data to create better experiences for visitors, but you can also determine which locations are outperforming others. The resulting analysis can then be used to inform your commercial investment strategy.

For example, a commercial property group could learn more about the interests of consumers visiting their stores using location data. After analyzing this data, they might learn that their shoppers also visit convenience stores. To better meet shoppers’ needs, the property group might then add a convenience store to their shopping center.

4. Reassure Tenants of their Investment

Do you have contact with the shoppers who used to visit your sites? With location data, you can still reach those shoppers with offers that encourage them to come back. You can even use this data to reach lookalike consumers and to bring new shoppers to stores. By knowing which consumers frequently visit your sites, you can target ads and promotions directly to them. This approach shows that your property group understands the challenges of the current market and can help reassure tenants of their investment.

3. Expand Property Developer Portfolios with Location Data

Location data can be used to understand the affinities of visiting consumers and to measure foot traffic in different places. Knowing this, property developers can select the most desirable tenants looking for an optimal location for their business. Plus, if a property group is looking to grow their portfolio, they can easily see which commercial area is most popular and choose a property at that location.

2. Match Tenants to their Ideal Spaces

Discovering consumer affinities lets property developers lease to tenants that are an ideal fit for the building and visitor base. This creates positive tenant-owner relationships and helps to extend lease length. Is your property a better fit for a retail store or for a restaurant? When a property developer is looking to rent out commercial space, such as that in an outlet mall, they can select the tenant most likely to thrive in that location based on the affinities of local consumers.

1. Adapt Commercial Properties for the Future

Using location data, property developers can conduct market research to predict consumer trends. With more people working from home, today’s office space in a warehouse district might again become tomorrow’s warehouse. Commercial property groups need adaptability and flexibility in their portfolio to keep up with these trends. Without the right data, it will become increasingly difficult to keep up with the competition and to attract prospective tenants.

Use Location Data to Predict Property Development Trends

The commercial real estate industry will continue to change as consumers adopt new lifestyles due to COVID-19. To optimize your commercial property portfolio, it’s vital to keep current tenant confidence up and think out-of-the-box when it comes to investing in new properties.

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