Big Data revolutionizes the retail real estate industry
Digitization in the real estate industry is not fiction, but everyday life. Today, this development is already being used everywhere.
Data-driven information expands the broker's scope of services
The real estate industry in inner-city retail is in a constant state of flux, and not just since the rise of digitization. The possibilities made possible by big data, artificial intelligence and the like will soon bring about a major upheaval and a disruption with far-reaching consequences. We are currently in a time of reorientation and adaptation. Finding the right real estate and its use will change radically for the retail sector.
Believing that real estate portals will replace commercial brokers shortly is just as much grandstanding as thinking that we will solve the problem of vacancies by Christmas. On the contrary, the areas of responsibility will merely shift. Efforts to date have mainly been aimed at digitally optimizing existing services: Making appointments, providing images and documents, linking tenants with shopfitters, or data-driven location analysis. All of these services professionalize the daily routine of a real estate agent, and the time gained can be spent effectively with the client.
Digital disruption in all areas
The development in the real estate industry is unstoppable. The reasons for this are the increasingly easy availability of solutions for powerful hardware and the steadily increasing use of self-learning algorithms. The retail sector and its real estate industry are on the verge of a digital disruption that will impact all their areas. Especially in commercial real estate, the optimal location is determined automatically and in real-time with data-driven support. Every day, billions of data packets provide information about visitors, catchment areas, demographic and social factors of the surrounding population, infrastructure, weather, and much more. The broker can no longer keep up with his gut feeling here, nor does he have to. Instead, tomorrow's broker knows how to use these new sources of information and thus expands his range of services.
Advantages and disadvantages of digital disruption
Is digital development good or bad? Critics are sounding the alarm and pointing out the possibilities of surveillance. However, strict data protection guidelines ensure that this is impossible. They will also speak critically about the rationalization of jobs through technical solutions and the associated pressure for real estate service providers to adapt. But it must not be forgotten that new jobs are being created through digitization.
Retailers benefit from helpful information and find the location where they can offer their goods and products in a targeted manner to meet the needs of the surrounding population. This reduces vacancies in the long term. With digital support, brokers, urban planners, and the caretakers in our neighborhoods ensure more diversity in the retail offering and thus make our everyday lives a bit more colorful. Retailers benefit first and foremost from a higher quality of location, and individual and flexible solutions can be developed for each retailer.
The security aspect is another plus point: Sophisticated technology ensures that retailers make location decisions that will ultimately be successful. The same applies to the management of commercial real estate. Neighborhood changes are detected in real-time and less time is needed to adapt the product range to new requirements, for example.
Reality instead of science fiction
Digitization in the real estate industry is not fiction but everyday life. Today, this development is already being used everywhere. There is no question that the real estate industry - not only for retail - will be revolutionized by Big Data, Machine Learning, the Internet of Things, and Cloud Services in the next few years.
And it's worth looking at the past: What makes sense and is helpful for the end user is also implemented and applied. Therefore, it is essential for players in the real estate industry to actively shape the unstoppable development with open eyes instead of remaining stuck in old thought patterns.
