A few years ago, a major franchise system used to undertake costly and time consuming exit surveys to estimate the potential impacts of cannibalisation on their existing store network before opening a new store. This was done by surveying customers at existing stores and asking “If we opened a store in X, would you go there instead?” Results were then collated and estimates on cannibalisation were made. This was a very costly and time consuming exercise.
Geotech Information Services undertook a project for the major franchise, and built a cannibalisation impact assessment model, that was proven to be a lot more accurate in simulating and assessing real customer behaviour. There was also the added benefit of the cannibalisation impact model providing the answer in a third of the time, and for a small fraction of the cost of the exit surveys. The cannibalisation impact assessment model is now used every time they consider a new site, before the site is committed to.