Nothing Artificial About Next & Technology
The importance of capturing, analyzing, and leveraging data to make informed decisions has always been critical to investment decision-making. Recently, “artificial intelligence” and/or “machine learning” have become accepted industry tools.
Next CEO Andy Hochberg has noted, “The integration of AI is something everyone in the industry must get behind. It’s an important decision-making tool.”
Next has always used a data-driven approach to analyzing retailer performance metrics to determine the health of retailers within the centers it owns or considers acquiring. As technology and data collection methods continue to evolve, Next is tapping into other platforms to help inform decisions throughout the lifecycle of the investment process.
Next recently invested in the data provided by Placer.ai, a national, subscription-based technology service that provides statistics to track consumer retail traffic patterns including visits both to a center and to specific tenants within the U.S. Below are some of the ways Next uses this information for retail-specific properties:
- Acquisitions—properties within a market can be tracked, ranked, and analyzed over time to highlight trends that, when paired with other metrics, can further validate investment decisions. Going a step further, Next has initiated more detailed tracking of targeted trade areas within specific submarkets to help identify and focus on specialized opportunities.
- Management—key or contributing performance indicators are now available to identify changes in traffic patterns, length of visits and other factors that may provide early signs of tenant challenges. This creates an opportunity to strategize solutions with our tenants.
- Leasing —the same data, or slight variations, is being used to help target leasing efforts. For example, Next can track the number of visits to a center including volume to specific tenant locations that can be valuable to share with prospective tenants when marketing available space.
Next believes artificial intelligence won’t replace the sector and market-specific analytical experience and expertise required to execute a business plan. Instead, by harnessing data platforms like Placer.ai, Next Realty is further advancing its strategic and proven, best-in-class decision-making acumen
