Retail site selection: da una prueba a tu próxima dirección, no a tu intuición

    Análisis IA de tráfico peatonal + competidores + demografía + ROI para cualquier dirección del mundo — en 60 segundos, desde 99€.

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    From $99 / report
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    Last updated · Reviewed by Nicholas Todeschini

    Retail site selection is the process of identifying the optimal physical address for a new retail store, restaurant, bar, gym, salon, boutique or pharmacy. It combines foot traffic analysis, competitor mapping, demographic profiling, rent benchmarking and accessibility scoring to forecast a site's revenue potential before you sign a 5–10 year lease.

    WhereToOpen.ai is AI-powered retail site selection built for SMBs: same rigor as a site-selection consultant, delivered in 60 seconds for $99 per report — instead of 4–8 weeks and $5,000–$20,000+.

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    Coverage

    Built for every retail format

    Each business type weights signals differently. Our AI tunes the model per format so you get the right answer for your category.

    Restaurants & bars
    Foot traffic, competitor menu/price overlap, evening vs lunch demand split.
    Coffee shops
    Morning commuter flow, residential density, work-from-home patterns.
    Gyms & fitness
    Residential proximity, parking availability, evening accessibility.
    Salons & beauty
    Female demographic concentration, repeat-visit drive-time tolerance.
    Boutiques & retail
    Pedestrian traffic, tourist flow, complementary co-tenants.
    Pharmacies & services
    Aging-population density, competing pharmacy walking distance.
    Methodology

    7-step retail site selection process

    Whether you DIY, use software or hire a consultant, a credible retail site selection follows these seven steps.

    1
    Define the customer
    Who are they, where do they live, what's their spending power, when do they buy?
    2
    Set the trade area
    Walking radius for coffee, 10-min drive for gym, 5-min walk for boutique. Each format has its own catchment.
    3
    Quantify foot traffic
    Daily, weekly and seasonal pedestrian and vehicle flows around the candidate address.
    4
    Map the competition
    Direct and indirect competitors with ratings, price tier, opening hours and review sentiment.
    5
    Profile demographics
    Age, income, household composition and lifestyle within the trade area.
    6
    Score rent vs revenue
    Project monthly revenue and confirm rent stays under 10–15% of revenue (format-dependent).
    7
    Stress-test the decision
    What if foot traffic drops 20%? What if a competitor opens? What's your break-even month?
    Vertical playbooks

    Retail playbooks by vertical

    Each retail format weights site-selection signals differently. Here's the short playbook for the four most common formats we see operators open.

    Food & beverage
    Lead signals: morning vs evening foot traffic split, competitor menu/price overlap, sentiment around 'wait time' and 'noise level'. Watch out for: rent-to-revenue creeping above 12%, saturated direct competition within 200m.
    Fashion & boutique
    Lead signals: pedestrian density on Saturday afternoons, presence of complementary co-tenants (cafés, bookstores), tourist share. Watch out for: low repeat-visit pattern, distance from main shopping artery.
    Grocery & convenience
    Lead signals: residential density within 800m, household income, parking availability, vehicle traffic on the adjacent road. Watch out for: existing supermarket chain within 1km drawing weekly trips.
    Services (gyms, salons, clinics)
    Lead signals: drive-time catchment population, age and income match, competitor count within the catchment, evening accessibility. Watch out for: low evening foot traffic, lack of parking for service formats.
    KPIs

    The 5 KPIs that decide a retail site

    Skip glamour metrics. These five are the ones that actually predict whether the lease pays off.

    KPIHealthy rangeWhy it matters
    Rent-to-revenue ratioF&B 8–12% · Retail 6–10%Above 15% is unsustainable in most formats.
    Direct competitor count (500m)2–5Zero = no validated demand. 6+ = saturated.
    Average competitor rating3.8–4.4Low = market gap. High = entrenched incumbents.
    Demographic match score70+Age × income × density alignment with target.
    Foot traffic at peak daypartFormat-dependentCompare to format benchmark, not absolute.
    Pitfalls

    5 common retail site-selection mistakes

    Most failed openings repeat the same handful of mistakes. Spotting them in the report is the fastest ROI you'll get from the platform.

    Falling in love with a unit
    Anchoring on a specific space and rationalizing weak signals (low traffic, high rent) instead of comparing 3+ candidates objectively.
    Ignoring rent-to-revenue
    Signing a 'beautiful' lease at 18% rent ratio and hoping volume will catch up. It rarely does in year one.
    Misreading competition
    Treating zero competitors as 'opportunity' when it usually means there's no validated demand for the format on that street.
    Skipping seasonality
    Choosing a tourist-heavy address without modeling the off-season cash-flow gap. Many F&B closures happen in Feb/Mar.
    Skipping the second look
    Signing without re-running the analysis after the landlord's counter-offer. Final rent often pushes a sustainable site into red.

    Stop guessing where to open your next store

    Run a free Location Health Score on any retail address worldwide. No credit card, no contract, 60 seconds.

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    FAQ

    Frequently asked questions

    ¿Qué es el retail site selection?
    El retail site selection es el proceso de elegir la dirección física óptima para un nuevo punto de venta — tienda, restaurante, gimnasio, farmacia. Combina tráfico peatonal, demografía, competidores, alquileres y normativa local en una decisión cuantitativa go/no-go.
    ¿Cómo funciona el retail site selection con IA?
    Las plataformas de retail site selection con IA ingieren POI, datos demográficos, señales de movilidad y alquileres, y aplican modelos por sector para generar un score. WhereToOpen.ai lo produce en 60 segundos para cualquier dirección.
    ¿Qué factores importan más en el retail site selection?
    Los siete factores más predictivos son: tráfico peatonal por franja horaria, densidad y calidad de competidores, match demográfico, ratio alquiler/facturación (<15% es sostenible), accesibilidad, visibilidad y estacionalidad del formato.
    ¿Cuánto cuesta un análisis de retail site selection?
    Los consultores tradicionales cobran 5–25k€ por dirección con semanas de espera. Las plataformas enterprise (Placer.ai, ESRI) parten de 5.000$+ al año con contrato. WhereToOpen.ai es para PYMES: 99€ por informe individual sin contrato.
    ¿Funciona también para food & beverage?
    Sí — la restauración es uno de los casos más maduros. El modelo debe ponderar especificidades F&B: tráfico peatonal por daypart, sentiment del menú de los competidores, densidad de agregadores de delivery y stress-test alquiler/cubiertos.
    ¿Puedo hacer retail site selection antes de firmar el contrato?
    Es exactamente el momento adecuado. Un informe de 99€ antes de firmar es una prima de seguro del 0,02% frente a un compromiso de 500k€. Muchos operadores lo usan también para negociar alquiler o incentivos con el propietario.

    Related resources

    Site selection software
    The category, explained.
    Store location AI
    How AI picks the right address.
    Business expansion planning
    For multi-location chains.