Hi Katy,
There are few options you might like to explore in Business Analyst Web App. First, you might like to try the Void Analysis workflow to analyze an area you choose to detect voids and gaps in specific businesses and services, compared to another area. The workflow lets you identify the area you want to analyze, select the business categories you want to evaluate, and view analysis results that break down voids and gaps in the selected businesses. Void analysis is a guided workflow that takes you through each step: choose an analysis area, select business categories, and view and save your results.
Next, you can explore the square footage attributes available in the Points of interest search workflow using the Data Axle data source. The square footage attributes include square foot minimum and square foot maximum that can be filtered to meet specific requirements. For example, open the POI search workflow and define the area of interest. From the Category search, select “Eating Places” and perform the search. You will have added up to 5,000 businesses to the map. In the Refine your results pane, use the Square Foot Minimum to filter the search to a minimum square footage. You can save the filtered results as a layer, and/or export the results to Excel.
Suitability analysis is another good workflow to explore. For example, if you save the POI search layer, or left the results on the map, you can use the POIs in Suitability Analysis. Let’s say you still have the results on the map, click Run analysis > Suitability analysis, and select Features on the map in Step 1 and click Next. Select the layer and apply. Create sites from the POIs, such as Rings, Drive times, or Walk times. In Step 3, you can select a featured list, such as Retail and real estate, and then select Restaurants to create a suitability analysis. Now you can Add criteria from the POI sites to use in the analysis, e.g., square footage, employee count, or sales volume/assets.
Additional data you might like to review is the Retail Demand by Industry. Esri U.S. Retail Demand data estimates spending in retail trade, food services, and drinking places industries. Data provide an understanding of where consumers are spending their dollars on an annual basis in 13 NAICS (North American Industry Classification System) Subsectors and 30 NAICS Industry Groups. Data include total expenditures by all households, average spending per household which represents the typical amount spent by household, and an index comparing spending to the U.S. average. Data are based on the latest Consumer Expenditure Surveys by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Economic Census by the U.S. Census Bureau. You can use Retail Demand data to understand how dollars are being spent in retail and food establishments in your area of focus. You will find a Retail Demand category in the data browser that includes 45 Retail Expenditures by NAICS variables. The data can be used in mapping analysis, such as Color-coded Maps and Smart Map Search, and in reports and infographics. There is also a Retail Demand by Industry infographic and classic report that includes the average and total dollar amount spent, and the spending potential index for a product or service relative to the national average.
I hope this information is helpful and I encourage you to explore the distinct options.
Thank you for the great questions!
Best regards,
