GIS Assists Site Location in the E-commerce Age

Abstract: Edens & Avant, a commercial real estate company, needed a way to provide a Web-based search tool for retailers to easily find properties within the Edens & Avant grocery anchored shopping center portfolio. The solution was the creation of E&A OnSite. This paper describes how ArcView Business Analyst and RouteMAP IMS were used in the creation of E&A OnSite.

Introduction

E&A OnSite was developed for retailers looking for information on properties in the Edens & Avant shopping center portfolio. The project began in March 1999. It was then that Edens & Avant realized that they needed a better way to show retailers the shopping centers that met their locational needs. Due to the fact that demographics change on a yearly basis and information on the shopping centers change over time, printed materials were becoming outdated very quickly. Also the company's portfolio of grocery anchored shopping centers was growing very rapidly, making the collection and dissemination of new information more difficult. The solution was a combination of the Internet, databases, and GIS (Geographic Information Systems).

The Project

Edens & Avant was already using Business Analyst. They also had already geocoded all 250 of their existing shopping centers. Many mapping programs simply look up addresses on the fly, often resulting in errors. Since Edens & Avant already had their exact shopping center locations in a Geographic Information System, the best choice was to use RouteMap IMS that interfaces with GIS files directly. With these two components in place, the decision was made to use RouteMap for the Internet mapping and then to use the demographic data provided by Business Analyst.

To better develop the program, Edens & Avant selected nearly 100 retailers to beta test E&A OnSite at the annual convention of the International Council of Shopping Centers in Las Vegas. Beta testers navigated through the shopping center search program, testing the site's usability and performance, then providing valuable input to the staff of E&A OnSite developers.

Data for the system comes from a variety of sources. RouteMAP IMS comes with the U.S. street data and landmark data from Geographic Data Technology (GDT), an Esri business partner. Business Analyst comes with the demographic data from CACI Marketing Systems, an Esri business partner. Edens & Avant provides its proprietary portfolio GIS layer, with MSA and state centroids derived from National Transportation Atlas Database (NTAD) data for 1999.

The demographic data needed to be in a table for several reasons: Edens & Avant wanted the ability to add new demographic data as soon as possible. Also they wanted to create the ability for users to search the demographics. The demographic search was created due to the fact that most retailers have an ideal demographic market that they are targeting. This feature enables retailers to narrow Edens & Avant's shopping center portfolio down to the centers that meet their demographic needs.

RouteMap IMS gave Edens & Avant the ability to show multiple center locations. If a user searches for properties by state then a scrollable list of properties appears on the left side of the screen and the interactive RouteMap IMS map appears on the right. This gives the users a quick overview of where the centers are located in the state. This same search feature works for the MSA (metropolitan statistical area) search. If a user searches by MSA then a map appears zoomed into the MSA showing the properties that are in and near the MSA. Retailers also have the ability to measure distance, get directions, and search the map via spatial queries.

E&A OnSite gives retailers the ability to search the shopping center portfolio by shopping center name, state, Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), or demographic attributes. Once a center is selected,information on that center is shown on another page. The shopping center section contains maps, aerial photos, center pictures, site plans, and center facts. The user also has the ability to print out a fact sheet on the center. This fact sheet contains a picture, aerial photo, map, demographics, center facts, as well as the leasing representatives contact information.

Summary

Edens & Avant has leveraged two GIS programs, RouteMap IMS and Business Analyst, to create a web-site that meets the needs of it's core customers. These customers are retailers who can use the site to search Edens & Avant's shopping center portfolio for the properties that meet their spatial needs. E&A OnSite also includes interactive mapping, as well as detailed information on each center.

To visit E&A OnSite go to: www.edensandavant.com click on Necessity Retail, then click on E&A OnSite.