Many industries are reeling from the unprecedented economic decline that seemed to have hit us all overnight. One of the hardest-hit industries has undoubtedly been the commercial real estate (CRE) industry. The majority of organizations in the US are shifting to a work-from-home environment, and many of them are deciding to continue this policy for the indefinite future. Commercial buildings that used to buzz with clacking heels and overfilled elevators are now ghost towns as floor by floor, more offices are dark than ever before.

Retail plazas and malls are emptier than we’ve ever seen them as more consumers shift to online shopping for their basic needs. With the advent of online grocery delivery services, CRE that caters to retail and grocery are feeling the effects of a sharp economic downturn. Should commercial real estate leaders flip belly-up and give up on their industry? Absolutely not. 

While this may seem like an impossible situation to overcome, it doesn’t have to be the end of the road for commercial real estate leaders. Find ways to innovate and meet CRE head-on with location intelligence.

What if there was a way to know what business would do best in what neighborhood, or what ads would work best for potential tenants? We know it sounds too good to be true, but this is the power of data-driven intelligence. You can take a hypothetical magnifying glass into your industry and gain insights that will help drive better future business decisions. 

For example, let’s say that you are a commercial real estate leader who is trying to sell a newly vacant retail space. As expected, 2020 has been a nightmare for you so far and buyers aren’t coming to your doorstep, no matter how many ads you throw their way or how much you have changed your prices. You decide to look into location intelligence solutions because your brother who works in the same space recently adopted a solution and just closed a deal. 

The idea of spending more to gain more seems frivolous to you, considering how this year has treated your business, but you decide to take the plunge because it might actually work. With location intelligence integrated into your data analytics tool of choice, the first thing that you do is analyze the neighborhood where your empty retail location is.

You’re surprised to find that the people who live in the neighborhood surrounding your CRE could be potential tenants for you to lease the space to. Using mobile location intelligence, you can analyze the foot traffic patterns of the people in your area, and several of them have been looking into real estate. 

After this insight, you go back to the drawing board: what can you do to entice one of these potential tenants to look at your space? With location-based insights, you are able to identify that a lot of the people living in the surrounding areas are particularly interested in the fitness industry and the health space. Using this information, you create highly targeted ads to send out to the people who you know are shopping for commercial real estate. Instead of the old ads that were solely retail-focused, you adjust yours to reflect the interests of the neighborhood: health and fitness. 

Before long, you have five potential buyers who have scheduled tours of the empty space. Some are interested in a new age socially distanced gym, others are interested in a health cafe. 

Using location intelligence helped you transform your go-to-market strategies to expand on what interests the people in your neighborhood the most. You were able to develop highly targeted ads and aim for the people who would be most likely to schedule a meeting with you, saving you on marketing dollars and potentially landing you a lucrative deal.

2020 has pulled the ground out from under our feet, but oftentimes the road to innovation and groundbreaking solutions is rarely a smooth and straight line. Now is the time to reform by using location intelligence to help you meet the challenges of today’s  “new normal.”

For more information on how location intelligence can transform your CRE business and help you achieve your revenue goals, contact us today!