Leveraging locational insights within retail store development? Assessing the use of location planners’ knowledge in retail marketing

The retail geography literature has long recognised the importance of spatial and catchment analysis to inform decision-making relating to store development. However, less attention has been directed to store development “in practice” and, more specifically, how location research and geographical knowledge is leveraged across the wider retail business – in particular informing the marketing function. Through the use of a semi-structured interview and focus group methodology involving approximately 40 location planning, property and marketing analysts, we find that while some larger retailers have established close links between store development and marketing functions in the exchange of catchment, customer, competitor and loyalty card data to inform local marketing, product ranging, promotional mailings and post-opening store performance reviews, this tends to be the exception rather than the rule. We suggest there is a need for location planners to develop their intra-organisational legitimacy to engender a culture of knowledge-sharing and challenge the departmentalised, silo cultures that exist within some retailers in order to better leverage geographical insights and assist in the realisation of appropriate customer propositions and marketing strategies.