In 1931, a gentleman named William J. Reilly wrote a retail axiom that is still used today for retail store market planning. It is commonly known as Reilly’s Retail Law of Gravitation and was inspired by Newton’s Law of Gravitation, which said that “two bodies attract each other with a force that is proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. “Reilly’s formula is used to predict the likely split between two shopping centers where shoppers will go one way or another.

Reilly acknowledged that shopping malls produce a gravitational pull. Also, he realized that larger shopping malls had more mass and therefore, as stated in Newton’s Law, more gravity. However, here’s a new scoop. Your store also produces a gravitational field. The gravity produced by your store is based on a series of elements, among which its size stands out. Knowing this fact can help you in managing your business. Let me give you a couple of examples of what I mean.

Let’s put gravitation aside for a moment. We’ll get back to it in a moment and hopefully you’ll follow through on the connections. If you were to throw a stone into a pond, the resulting impact would produce concentric rings of ripples. Stop and visualize it for a moment and you will notice the waves getting smaller and smaller as they depart from the center of impact. Now think of that rock as your tent (no, I don’t mean it’s sinking :)). Your store has the greatest power to attract and influence people at your point of impact … at your location. The further you get from your store, the smaller its influence rings get. But wait, the problem is further compounded by any other stone thrown into your pond … those rocks are your competitors and their ring interrupts yours.

Okay, let’s go back to gravity and now you need to understand why the further you get from your tent, the less powerful your gravitational pull is. This knowledge can really help you when you are formulating your store ad campaign. Because your store’s power of influence is greatest at its center, it makes sense to focus a significant portion of your advertising budget there. There are good, cost-effective programs to help you achieve this.

Remember that the further you get from the center of your store when it comes to advertising, the stronger your concessions need to be. For example, if a car dealer offered me a deal that was $ 200 cheaper than the one across the street, I would certainly cross the street and take advantage of the better price. Both auto dealerships would exert similar levels of gravitational pull on me. However, if a merchant in 2 states offered me a deal that was even $ 350 less, I would not go. I would not buy it. It would not be within the gravitational influence of that merchant.

Knowing more about retail gravitation can make you a better informed and better store manager.