Property, people, location

Introduction

Starbucks® opened its first location in 1971 at Pike Place® in Seattle, a bustling city market known for fresh goods and quality artisanal products. Nike® (then Blue Ribbon Sports) opened its first retail store in 1966 in SoCal to be close to the die-hard Santa Monica jogging community, and its second store smack in the middle of the Boston Marathon® route. Location has always been a top priority for retailers.

But it's not all about the store's location. To be successful today, retailers need to match their products to the needs and interests of local consumers — and do it better, faster and cheaper than dozens of online and offline competitors.

Can it be done? Absolutely, but only with the right insights.

We developed this e-Book to highlight a new data intelligence framework centered on three pillars: who the customer is, where they live, and where they shop. Historically, retail marketers have had access to one or the other, but rarely all three dimensions because they came from disparate data sources that were difficult to reconcile. Not anymore. Let's dive in to see how this new framework might help you write the next chapter in data-driven marketing for your retail business.

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Retail today

The Covid-19 pandemic was a tectonic shift for the retail industry. Year-over-year retail sales in the U.S. dropped 20% in April 2020, climbed 52% in April 2021, and retailers have been on their toes ever since. To contend with new macroeconomic uncertainties and radical changes in consumer behavior, most retailers — even large, dominant players — have had to become more nimble and rethink their business priorities. But one thing they didn't do is shutter their brick-and-mortar businesses and shift everything online.

In-person shopping still accounts for 84% of total retail sales today. Southdale, America's oldest shopping mall, is investing $400 million to bring aspirational brands like Rolex®, Burberry® or Moncler® to the affluent Edina neighborhood 30 minutes south of Minneapolis. Walmart® has been gaining on Amazon® in the e-commerce space, but the company is still planning to build 150 new stores and remodel 650 existing stores over the next five years. Major retail chains like Dollar General®, Aldi®, Ulta Beauty®, and Five Below® are building new stores by the hundreds.

It's not to say that there hasn't been any casualty. From Big Lots® to Conn's®, Family Dollar®, Walgreens®, Foot Locker® and LL Flooring®, more stores are expected to close this year than at any time since the pandemic. In today's volatile and ultra-competitive environment, retailers need every advantage to break through the clutter and build their brands for the long term.

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At a glance

2.5% – 3.5% estimated growth of U.S. retail sales in 2024

Consumers are resilient and the retail industry is still growing, but at its slowest pace since 2016.

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84% / 16% in-store / online share of U.S. retail sales

Despite recent gains from e-commerce players, in-person shopping still dominates retail.

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+6K / −7.1K store openings / closures in the U.S. in 2024

Success and failure are never far apart, and retailers are under immense pressure to stand out.

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The state of data-driven marketing

Over the years, technology has brought much-needed efficiency, personalization and measurability to the field of marketing, and the retail industry has been at the forefront of that transformation.

Recent advances in areas as diverse as customer analytics, audience segmentation, identity resolution, retail media networks, and omnichannel orchestration have transformed how marketers engage with consumers and optimize their campaigns. They can use consent management platforms to collect customer data, clean rooms to share that data safely with potential media partners, automated personalization to customize the customer experience, and incrementality testing to measure lift — all without getting the IT department involved in every data request. And AI promises to take those capabilities even further.

But those tools are only as good as the data that fuels them. Marketers sometimes confuse data quantity for quality or get lost trying to stitch together bits of data from dozens of unverified and outdated data sources. They often end up with unreliable datasets more likely to cause friction with consumers than endear them to the brand.

At Cotality, we're big believers in data-driven marketing, but we also believe that marketers should only collect the data they need to meet their objectives, no more no less. Objectives come first, not data.

So, the question is: What objectives are retailers trying to achieve with their marketing initiatives?

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Top marketing priorities for retailers

Marketing is an incredibly diverse function. The MMA, the global marketing trade association, runs a think tank dedicated to studying what capabilities top marketing organizations should focus on to deliver value, and that think tank has developed a comprehensive map of no less than 90 distinct capabilities. Needless to say, every company carves a different path to meet its own unique objectives, but in our experience, we've found that most top retailers share the following priorities:

Identify growth markets

Retailers want to identify growth markets for their target customers and capitalize on emerging communities before their competitors do.

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Raise long-term awareness

They want to invest in long-term brand awareness to be top-of-mind when customers are ready to buy. Marketing starts at the top of the funnel.

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Exceed customer expectations

It's vital that they understand their customers and prospects at every step of the purchasing journey to anticipate their needs, target the right consumers, present relevant offers, and improve conversion rates.

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Turn shoppers into loyal customers

Acquiring new customers is one thing, but increasing brand loyalty and share of wallet among existing customers is crucial to building durable success.

Those objectives can be met with a data strategy focused on three pillars: who the customer is, where they live, and where they shop.

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A data intelligence framework to meet today's needs

Strategic priority: Identify growth markets

People (Who is the customer?): Can you recognize promising customers and capitalize on their  interest before competitors do?

Property (Where do they live?): What neighborhoods show the greatest potential to open a new  store?

Location (Where do they shop?): Where are your target customers shopping now, and is there  room for you to make your mark?

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Strategic priority: Raise long-term awareness

People (Who is the customer?): Do people know your brand, how do they feel about it, and  where do you need to close the gap?

Property (Where do they live?): What property and life event signals might help you boost your  brand's awareness among target consumers?

Location (Where do they shop?): Can you tell if you're top-of-mind in one region but not so  much in another?

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Strategic priority: Exceed customer expectations

People (Who is the customer?): Is your customer a new mover or planning a renovation? What  insights can you draw from this information?

Property (Where do they live?): Bedrooms, bathrooms, pool, yard size – these details reveal a  lot. How can you leverage them to gauge interest in your products?

Location (Where do they shop?): How can warmer climates, longer winters, droughts, and  demographics shape your engagement strategy?

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Strategic priority: Turn shoppers into loyal customers

People (Who is the customer?): What data do you need to develop reliable models to predict  repeat purchases and grow your share of wallet?

Property (Where do they live?): Could you use property characteristics or life events to  provide relevant offers to existing customers and grow their loyalty?

Location (Where do they shop?): Could you use in-store analytics to elevate the shopping  experience for existing customers?

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The Cotality™ edge

Who should you turn to for property, people, and location data you can trust?

With roots in real estate, mortgage, insurance and climate risk analysis, Cotality is the leading supplier of property intelligence in the U.S. Our property data covers 99.9% of all U.S. properties, and 99.75% of it is collected directly at the source. We take data privacy very seriously, and all of our property data is either opt-in or public record. And we team up with the best partners to integrate all the important people and location attributes our retail clients need to achieve their goals — even if they don't have much first-party data to begin with.

Did you know that:

• 9,800 households in CA are shopping for properties out of state
• 7,100 residential building permits are currently open in Minnesota
• 4.9 million families purchased a new home in the U.S. in 2024
• 1,500 homeowners are actively shopping for kitchen appliances in Edina, MN
• 18 million are currently shopping for furniture
• 21,400 walked by the Boll & Branch (bedding retailer) store in Dallas this past week

Cotality can help you reach those consumers with targeted and highly personalized offers. Check out our comprehensive retail data offerings and gain an edge over your competitors with the most reliable and predictive property, shopper and in-store intelligence in the business. Visit: https://www.cotality.com/industries/retail

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Case study: Driving growth with Cotality's Precision Marketing

A Florida home furnishing company used Cotality's Precision Marketing Solution to enhance trade partnerships and expand brand awareness through targeted digital advertising. By implementing programmatic advertising and a web-to-home pixel, the firm successfully retargeted website visitors, leading to a 137% ROAS and $9.5K in revenue over three months.

Key takeaways included improved creative strategies, better customer journey tracking, and enhanced stakeholder education on digital marketing best practices.

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Conclusion

Retailers are facing historic market pressures, shifting consumer expectations, and fierce competition from both local competitors and global e-commerce powerhouses. It's never been more challenging to capture and retain consumer attention.

Data-driven marketing is the answer — but not just any data. You need insights that speak to your unique business objectives and help you stand out from the crowd. At Cotality, we're convinced that the keys to success are property, people, and location, and we hope you'll make those three important pillars central to your data strategy in 2025 and beyond.

For more details about the new data intelligence framework outlined in this e-Book, or to discuss how Cotality's retail data offerings and advertising solutions might help you grow your business, please contact your Cotality representative.

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Cotality's most popular insights used by retailers today

Here are some key property details retailers can use to build targeted advertising and enrich the view of customers with Cotality for Retail. For a complete list, please contact your Cotality representative.

Property Type: Residential

• Single-Family Home
• Townhouse
• Duplex
• Triplex
• Quad
• Apartment

Property Type: Commercial

• Retail
• Industrial
• Agricultural
• Hotel/Motel

Property Details

• Home Size
• Lot Size
• Year Built
• Waterfront
• Swimming Pool
• Number of Bedrooms
• Number of Bathrooms
• Number of Garages
• Number of Floors
• Deck/Porch

Financial & Ownership

• Home Value
• Rent Value
• Purchase Date
• Ownership Tenure
• Owner Occupied
• Equity in Home
• Owned by Investors
• Foreclosure

Property Activity

• New Construction
• Remodel
• Roof Renovation
• Windows Renovation
• Recently Purchased

Propensity Indicators

• Home Shopper
• New Shopper
• Home Shopper Indicator
• Propensity to List to Sell
• Propensity to List for Rent
• Propensity to Finance
• Propensity to Refinance
• Propensity to Take out Equity Loan

Cotality for retail data is available on: Databricks, Snowflake, Google Cloud and Salesforce.

For a downloadable version, visit https://pages.corelogic.com/hubfs/CoreLogic%20NA/EDSG/20252988-Retail%20E-Book-0604.pdf.

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