by Kyle Bailey
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the face of our Main Street and Elm Street programs throughout the nation. With so many of our local organizations and small businesses facing unprecedented challenges, the Pennsylvania Downtown Center staff wanted to remind you that demographic, business, and market data is available to our member and designated organizations. As we continue to navigate through the pandemic together, taking an opportunity to understand this data will prepare us all to make a stronger impact in the future.
One of the most powerful data reports that we can provide access to is the Retail Market Power reports. Retail Market Power is what we commonly call opportunity gap which is based on the supply and demand of a product or service within the defined geography. Examining these reports can show us where there is greater demand than supply. When this is the case, that would indicate that there is a gap in the market. This information can be used to attract a new business or help supplement an existing business. If the supply is greater than the demand this indicates that there is an over-saturation for this type of product or service. In some cases, however, this could also suggest that there is a niche market for a product or service which may indicate that the defined geography has become a destination for the described product. In this case, the product or service is attracting consumers from outside the defined geographic boundaries. Revitalization organizations should use this information in their business recruitment and retention strategies as well as other marketing efforts.
Also available are the Prizm Premier Top Segments and Social Segmentation Distribution reports. These reports display information about the interests, lifestyles, shopping habits, and attitudes of the inhabitants of the selected geography. This data can be used to supplement a variety of program planning efforts including event planning and business recruitment and retention efforts. By utilizing this data to gain a better understanding of what types of events and businesses consumers will patronize, this can help us implement more impactful and successful programming.
Other available reports include general demographics, data on businesses, and traffic counts. Reports can be obtained for a large variety of geographies including county, municipal and local program boundaries.
If you are interested in learning more about these reports and how they can be utilized, reach out to a PDC staff member for more information.