PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
SITE CHARACTERISTIC
COMPILING
Systematic evaluation and scoring of key physical attributes across your entire location portfolio. Standardized, structured, and ready for analysis.
OVERVIEW
WHAT ARE SITE CHARACTERISTICS?
Most retailers and restaurants evaluate their locations using inconsistent criteria with no standardization. The result is a portfolio of locations with no apples-to-apples basis for comparison. Site characteristic compiling solves this.
Retail Gravity systematically evaluates and scores the key physical attributes of each existing location using a structured, repeatable methodology. The output is a clean, consistent database you can immediately use for analysis, reporting, or integration into your existing tools.
SCORED CHARACTERISTICS
4 PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES, SCORED AT EVERY LOCATION
Every location in your portfolio is evaluated across four physical attributes that directly influence customer behavior and site performance. Each is scored independently on a 4-point scale, giving you a clear, comparable profile for every address in your footprint.
PARKING
Availability, proximity, and quality of parking relative to the location. Evaluates lot size, shared-use competition, ease of finding a space, and overall convenience for the customer arriving by car.
STOREFRONT VISIBILITY
How visible the storefront itself is from the road or main traffic flow. Accounts for setback, obstructions, inline placement vs. endcap or corner positioning, and the overall prominence of the physical location within the center.
SIGNAGE
Visibility and effectiveness of exterior signage from key approach angles. Considers monument signs, building-mounted signs, pylon presence, and whether a driver or pedestrian can identify the location before reaching it.
ACCESS
Ease of entering and exiting the site by car. Evaluates the number and quality of ingress/egress points, traffic signal presence, median cuts, turn lanes, and whether access creates friction that may deter visits.
THE SCORING SCALE
Each of the four attributes above is rated using a 4-point forced-choice scale. There is no midpoint; every score must lean positive or negative:
1
POOR / IMPAIRED
Significant issues likely to hurt performance.
2
BELOW AVERAGE
Meets basic expectations with some drawbacks.
3
ABOVE AVERAGE
Exceeds basic expectations; a net positive.
4
EXCELLENT
Clear competitive advantage; stands out positively.
A forced-choice scale with no "average" option is a deliberate methodology decision. When a neutral midpoint is available, evaluators default to it for any attribute that isn't clearly positive or negative. This will compress score distributions and reduces the ability to differentiate between locations. Eliminating that option requires every attribute to go somewhere, producing a dataset that actually separates your locations from one another and has real analytic power.
DATA COMPILED
ADDITIONAL ATTRIBUTES
Beyond the four scored attributes, Retail Gravity compiles a comprehensive set of categorical and descriptive data points for each location. These fields round out the physical profile and provide context that scored attributes alone can't capture.
ATTRIBUTE | DATA TYPE | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|---|
Outparcel | Yes / No | Whether the location is positioned as an outparcel to a larger center. |
Multilevel | Yes / No | Whether the location occupies or is within a multilevel structure. |
Retail Adjacencies | List | Notable retail neighbors within a 0.25-mile radius of the location. |
Business-Specific Details | Text or Notes | Other relevant attributes specific to your business type (e.g., drive-thru, patio, endcap, etc.). |
Center Type | Categorical | Classification of the center or property type (see full taxonomy below). |
Node Size (RGI) | Numeric | Retail Gravity Index node size classification for the surrounding retail node. |
CENTER TYPES
CENTER TYPE CLASSIFICATIONS
Each location is assigned a center type from a standardized taxonomy developed for retail and restaurant site analysis. This classification system covers the full spectrum of retail property formats in use across the US market today.
POWER CENTER
Big-box and mid-box focused. Anchored by tenants like Target, Home Depot, Best Buy.
STREETFRONT / URBAN
Inline urban retail and main street locations in dense urban environments.
STRIP CENTER
Small open-air plazas and classic suburban strip configurations.
LIFESTYLE CENTER
Upscale, open-air, and experience-oriented with dining and entertainment components.
GROCERY CENTER
Neighborhood or community center anchored by grocery and/or drugstore tenants.
CONVENIENCE CENTER
Very small, quick-stop focused. Often includes a gas station or minimal anchor.
FREESTANDING / PAD
Single-tenant or pad site, not inline within a multi-tenant center.
MIXED-USE
Retail combined with residential and/or office components.
MALL
Enclosed, open-air, or outlet mall configurations.
OTHER
Any format not covered above. Includes a notes field for additional context.
WHAT YOU RECEIVE
THE DELIVERABLE
The result of this service is a clean, structured database containing a complete physical profile of every location in your portfolio. Data is delivered in Excel or CSV format, structured for immediate import into your GIS platform, incorporation into your sales forecasting models, or use within your internal analytics workflows.
Consistent, standardized data is the foundation of every useful location analysis. This service gives you that foundation; a dataset where every location is evaluated against the same criteria, in the same way, so you can make meaningful comparisons across your entire footprint.
Scope Note: This service covers data compilation only. It does not include post-compilation analytics, interpretation, or modeling. For analysis built on top of this dataset, contact us to discuss options.
PRICING
SIMPLE, TRANSPARENT PRICING
Site characteristic compiling is priced per location. Bulk pricing is available for large portfolios. Contact us to discuss your project.
STANDARD RATE
$35
per location
Applies to all portfolios under 500 locations. Includes compilation of all scored and categorical attributes, delivered in Excel or CSV format.
Discounted bulk pricing available for large enterprise portfolios. Contact us to discuss scope, timeline, and custom rate.
GET STARTED
READY TO STANDARDIZE YOUR LOCATION DATA?
Contact us to discuss your portfolio size, timeline, and any business-specific attributes you'd like included in your compilation.
Email support@retailgravity.com or call 520-314-6094