Retailers Are Optimizing Foot Traffic Through Right-Sizing

The current economic environment has many industry watchers wondering whether another wave of retail turmoil is on the horizon. But the last round of so-called retail ‘right-sizing’ could prove instructive for many brands struggling to come to terms with their physical footprint.

“Not all store closings are signs of a retail apocalypse. In fact, there is ample reason why the thinking about rightsizing needs to shift,” a group of analysts from Placer.ai write in a new whitepaper. “Rightsizing has been classically seen as a softer terminology to discuss store closures. But there is a significant trend of rightsizing that is more focused on optimization. If a chain can reach the same audience with 80 stores that it can with 90, why not reduce the operational cost? If a brand can leverage a wider mix of store formats to better reach a specific market – this push can drive greater long term success.”