Which Trade Area Analysis is Best

Below are some general guidelines and suggestions as to how the different types of trade area types may be used and interpreted:

Trade Area Type	Best For	How Trade Area Data is Summarized	Considerations
Overlapping	Total trade area population, consumer spending, and other demographics.	All neighborhoods within the trade area are aggregated to get total population and other demographics for the trade area.	A neighborhood's population and other demographics are fully counted to all trade areas that contain the neighborhood. Adding demographics from overlapping trade areas results in double counting the population.
Non-Overlapping	Measuring population and consumer spending closest to sister store locations.	Overlapping trade areas are truncated and only the area within the truncated trade area is aggregated for that site. Population can be in only one trade area and there is no double counting.	Not appropriate for evaluating competitor trade areas; use Overlapping with Share of Potential when comparing competitors.
Aggregate	Getting the total demographic counts for the aggregate footprint of a multi-store network.	Multiple trade areas are dissolved into a single polygon and then demographics are aggregated.	Use this method to get a summary total for multiple locations when using "Overlapping" for the individual sites.
Overlapping with Share of Potential	Estimating the portion of the trade area population and consumer spending most likely to patronize the site.	For each neighborhood within the trade area, demographics are proportioned to each of the sites that have a trade area overlapping the neighborhood. The proportional neighborhoods are aggregated to a trade area's total Share of Potential.	Excellent method to get realistic demographic profile for competitor locations with overlapping trade areas.

What's Next:

Retail Target: Move Site Marker