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Custom Evaluators

Score sites on the criteria your team wrote.

Custom Evaluators are site scoring your team writes. Put the criteria in plain words, pick the data, and GrowthFactor scores each site 1 to 5 and writes out why.

A pin in a GrowthFactor study: the Custom Evaluator Agents panel scores the site 2 of 5 on foot traffic and writes out why, including a warning that the matched data is weak

The verdict

A 1 to 5 score, with the reasoning attached.

Every run returns a score and a written verdict. Your instructions decide what earns a 5, not a generic benchmark.

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A Foot Traffic evaluator scores 222 Third St 2/5. Its verdict warns that the matched foot-traffic data is a dog park nearly 9 miles away, notes the reference site ranks 134th of 314 local nature-park venues with visits falling year over year, and offers a Rerun evaluator button.

Inside an evaluator

Open the evaluator and read how it thinks.

An evaluator is a short set of instructions your team writes. Your committee can read the criteria, the data it used and the verdict it reached.

1

Name and purpose

Say what the evaluator is for, like a drive-thru format or a first store in a new metro. A workspace can hold several and set one as the default.

"Drive-thru pads: qualify outparcel sites for the small format."

2

Instructions

Write the criteria the way you would brief a new analyst, in plain language. Your team owns them, with help at onboarding.

"Favor sites on the inbound side of the morning commute. Mark down any site that pulls sales from an existing store."

3

Data sources

Pick what the evaluator reads: demographics, vehicle traffic, foot traffic, nearby businesses, cannibalization and analog stores.

"Sources: vehicle traffic, cannibalization, analog stores."

4

Score and verdict

The evaluator runs when you open a pin. It scores the site 1 to 5 and writes out which inputs moved the score.

"4 of 5. Heavy morning traffic on the inbound side and little overlap with existing stores. Income trails the closest analogs."

5

Rerun

Change the instructions or the data sources, then rerun the evaluator on the same pin to see the new verdict.

"Rerun with foot traffic added: 3 of 5. Weekend visits trail the analog stores."

The Custom Evaluators tab in GrowthFactor workspace settings: an Evaluator picker, then a new evaluator named Drive-Thru Fit with the purpose "Judges how well a location suits a drive-thru format" and a box for plain-language instructions.
The Add data source menu: Demographics Data, Vehicle Traffic, Foot Traffic, Nearby Businesses, Cannibalization Data and Analog Stores.

Analog stores

Judged against your own stores.

An evaluator can read your analog stores, so a site is measured against the locations most like it in your portfolio, not an industry average.

For every site you search, the platform finds up to five analog stores from your portfolio and ranks each by similarity. GrowthFactor Labs builds your revenue model on your own sales history.

Analogs
Total PopGrad/Prof %Hispanic %

7601 S Cicero Ave, Chicago, IL

Similarity: 91.1%

2544 N Narragansett Ave, Chicago, IL

Similarity: 84.5%

49 W North Ave, Northlake, IL

Similarity: 83.8%

2099 N Mannheim Rd, Melrose Park, IL

Similarity: 83.5%

8560 E 49th Pl, Denver, CO

Similarity: 82.3%

Your call

Disagree with the verdict? Change the instructions.

Good site calls come from informed disagreement. Edit the instructions, rerun the evaluator and bring the reasoning to committee.

  • Rewrite the instructions when your view of a good site changes
  • Add or drop data sources for each evaluator
  • Rerun an evaluator on any pin
  • Keep a separate evaluator for each format or question
  • Set one evaluator as the workspace default

Every site you score can become a deal.

Every site and deal sits in one place, with its evaluator verdicts kept alongside it.

1 to 5

Score on every run, with a written verdict

Yours

Criteria written by your team in plain language

Zero

Black box decisions