Maybe the first thought that comes to your mind when you hear the word “tapestry” is a combination of fabrics woven together, but when it comes to location intelligence, it has a completely different meaning.
One of the main functions of modern location intelligence in retail real estate is to help brands find their target customer in a new market.
While the idea of “tapestries” may not conjure images of anything close to modern, in location intelligence, Tapestry has come to refer to a market segmentation system designed to identify the widely varying consumer markets that make up the U.S.. These Tapestry Lifemode Groups have become an essential tool among retail brands who seek to better understand their target customer and discover where these people might live in new markets.
Created by Esri, the nation’s leading provider of geographic information and software, Tapestry Segmentation is a demographic and psychographic summary tool built from a large, well-selected array of variables.
Tapestry segmentation is divided into 67 – yes, 67 – market segments into which everyone in the United States can be sorted. These segments are further summarized into 14 distinct “LifeMode Groups” which refer to larger consumer segments, and “Urbanization Groups” which divide the nation into six categories ranging from Principal Urban Centers to Rural landscapes.
Looking at these 67 Segments and 14 Lifemode Groups on a map depicts cities as a kind of tapestry, weaving together many different types of people and families.
For some, this might sound totally boring. But for us at the retail strategy, this is the kind of data that inspires us!
These tapestries can quickly show us who-lives-where in any given place, which is an especially useful tool when expanding your brand into new markets.
If you understand your customer profile, Tapestries make it easy to determine the trade areas you should be targeting. Further, if you’re still learning who your customer is, Tapestries can help to determine the demographic makeup of your most successful – and unsuccessful – store locations.
If you’d like to find out more about how technology impacts real estate, reach out to our team at info@theretailstrategy.com.