Canada is becoming a top market for expansion outside of the U.S. with a shift in new retail construction across the country. For many retailers, they feel that they have almost reached saturation in the U.S. market, and moving north across the border is a next logical step.
As the Canadian retail market increasingly becomes more competitive, with massive retail growth expected over the next few years, Buxton is sharpening our understanding of the Canadian market through partnerships with academic institutions that are training our analysts about the retail landscape and geography in those markets in order to give greater assistance to both the U.S. retailers expanding into Canada, and Canadian retailers looking to maximize their footprint in the market.
Additionally, we have also strengthened our relationships with our technology and baseline data providers to broaden our toolbox and deliver the sharpest solutions possible.
To that end, with a higher degree of intelligence about the Canadian marketplace, we have developed research analyses which show the differences in consumers and competition across provinces and detailed differences from one metropolitan area to another.
The solutions we give retailers help to answer a wide variety of questions in all phases of the expansion process.
Evaluating Market Entry
If you are in the primary phase of evaluating and exploring the potential of opening up viable locations in Canada, we provide the intelligence and input needed to help guide the decision-making process by answering questions such as:
- What are my potential markets and trade areas?
- I know who my customer is in the U.S., but who is my customer in Canada?
- Who will be my competition and how long have they been there?
- Are there any emerging brands that could become a threat?
Then, once qualified, the next step we will take will be to build a real estate model.
Mapping Expansion in Canada
For those who have decided to pursue expansion and those that already have a presence in Canada, we build a robust real estate model that offers the same insights as our models do stateside.
- I have customers in Canada and a few units, but how do I determine where I could expand in Canada?
- How can I optimize my store network with infill locations across a market or province?
- What is my national potential in Canada and what is my entire North American potential?
- What is the sales potential of a new store? Is it a good investment or a bad one?
That Mulligan Moment
While it’s not the ideal situation – for retailers that already have units in Canada, but have stumbled with their first steps entering this new territory and as a result have stores that are not performing as well as they could be, we can still help by:
- Providing insights to guide a new strategic plan for growth
- Determining which stores have potential and which stores do not
- Identifying the potential causes of a store’s poor performance
The Bottom Line:
As there is a strong push among U.S. retailers to extend their reach across the border to Canada, Buxton is helping answer anything from the preliminary questions of “could we exist in Canada and what would our customers look like?” to “show me a blueprint for where and how we can grow in this market.”
Have more questions and want more answers about Canadian expansion? Download our report "On The Edge: A Retail Boom In Canada" or speak with one of our retail experts to evaluate your future opportunities in Canada."