February 3, 2020, by Erik Larson

Do Retail Recruiters Work?

Testimonials from real communities and their experiences

When we hear feedback from communities that form meaningful patterns, we like to surface that feedback in quick blog posts as we know you value your peers' input.

A theme currently trending is the question of whether retail recruiter services work. Part data analysis and part matchmaking service, these firms are well known in communities that are focused on the retail and hospitality sector.

But do they work? Are these cities and towns seeing net-new retail presensce in their main streets and new developments?

The short answer from the overwhelming majority is simply, no. If you're wondering why our company, which is solely focused on data stories, would even have this insight it's because prospects bring it up when they see what eIMPACT provides.

From what we have seen all retail recruitment services begin with data on the consumers, demographics and market leakage of the area, among other things. Sometimes a 'best fit' analysis accompanies this to help guide the matching making efforts that follow.

The problem we have heard described in these discussions is really all about the last step, matching making. A very labor intensive and therefore pricey component, it's the eventual matches that never materialized.

A common line we hear goes something like: "The data we got was valuable, and one way or another we need this information to tell our story. Honestly if we had a way to just get the analysis done at a reasonable price, that would do the trick for us."

There's no question recruitment has worked for some, perhaps many communities. If your experience is contrary to our generalization above, we would love to hear from you.

If you are more interested in approaches that are lower cost, purely focused on data and adding some sizzle to your website, we thought we'd surface an example here that eIMPACT put together featuring much of the same data needed to evaluate and pitch a retail market:



We are big believers in a cost effective, data-driven approach you can take using your existing website and maybe a little social media. Intrigue prospective retailers as they are doing their own research and decision-making, which begins online. The days of push-based marketing are coming to a close. You need to pull your audience in, and a data narrative is a great way to do that.


With eIMPACT you get the best in interactive, current and user-friendly retail market data and visualization. Are you focused on attracting retailers in 2020? We'd love to hear from you.

If you'd like to explore this futher, click button below to set up a live conversation: