Decision support system for location selection of convenience stores and retail facilities using optimization techniques and GIS

Abstract

The successful spatial location of small convenience stores and retail facilities greatly affects the potential flow of customers, therefore the task of optimizing their location is primary when opening a new store or revising an existing stores’ location. We developed a decision support system for location selection of convenience stores and retail facilities using optimization techniques and a geographic information system. The system identifies areas on an electronic map with the greatest potential to locate a store or retail facility, taking into account its specifics, pedestrian accessibility, opening hours, and a set of goods or services. The system calculates the optimal location of one or several stores using one of the optimization techniques for the criterion of the number of potential customers. In our experiments, we used gradient descent for optimization. The experiments were carried out in areas of various sizes using data obtained from Open Street Map. Experimental results showed that the system finds the optimal location in a reasonable time and therefore it can be useful for small convenience stores and retail facilities.