How Big Data Helps Chains Pick Store Locations

How Big Data Helps Chains Like Starbucks Pick Store Locations — An (Unsung) Key To Retail Success

Amid buzzwords that have hijacked discussions on the retail industry — “omnichannel,” “webrooming” — it’s easy to forget a stubborn truism of retail success: Location, location, location.

Put aside, for now, predictions of how Amazon and e-commerce will engulf business at brick-and-mortar stores: The reality is that 94% of retail sales are still rung up in physical stores, and where merchants place those stores plays an outsized role in determining whether their chains fly or flop.