A Geostatistical Analysis of Retail Coffee Store Distribution

Abstract

This paper explores the distribution of the retail coffee franchise stores in Seoul using geostatistical analyses. The fact that lots of coffee stores are concentrated in the central area-Jongno and Jung-gu and commercial area-Gangnam and Seocho shows that the size of the floating population and potential customers is one of main drivers for making decisions on the locations of new stores. Except these 4 districts, the number of stores and population exhibit a positive correlation. By extracting the information on the 6 large coffee franchises store locations, we calculate the both haversine distances between stores of the same franchise and between stores of different franchises. We then empirically test the sitting and marketing strategies of Starbucks, Ediya, and Paik-Dabang using distance distributions. Significant pairs of Starbucks stores located within 100m confirm the sitting strategy of Starbucks which opens additional stores at crossways, stations, near shopping malls or other business zones though there already exist Starbucks stores. Meanwhile considerable portion of Ediya stores are found near Starbucks stores, which coincides with the sitting strategy of Ediya. We also find that Paik-Dabang that uses the low cost strategy has its stores open relatively farther than other franchises from Starbucks stores.