Key Terms

A quick reference for terminology used throughout the GrowthFactor platform, organized alphabetically.

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Analog

An existing store used as a comparison point for forecasting new site performance. Analogs are selected based on similarity to the proposed site across demographics, competition, traffic, and other key variables. The core principle: a new site will perform similarly to existing stores that share its characteristics.

Cannibalization

The estimated overlap between a proposed site's trade area and your existing store trade areas. Expressed as a percentage—a 25% cannibalization rate means approximately 25% of an existing store's customers fall within the new site's trade area and may shift to the new location.

Complement

A business whose customers are likely to also shop with you. Unlike competitors, complements create beneficial co-tenancy—their traffic becomes potential traffic for your store. Configured in Workspace Settings.

GrowthFactor Score

An AI-powered composite rating (1–100) evaluating a site across customizable scoring dimensions called "lenses." Default lenses include Demographics Fit, Foot Traffic, Competition Analysis, and Market Potential. Each lens receives its own sub-score, and organizations can add, remove, or reweight lenses to match their brand's priorities.

Isochrone

A boundary showing all points reachable within a specific travel time. Drive-time trade areas are isochrones—unlike circular radiuses, they follow actual road networks and account for real-world travel patterns.

LOI

Letter of Intent—a preliminary agreement expressing serious interest in leasing a property. Commonly used as a pipeline stage indicating active negotiation.

PSF

Per Square Foot—sales expressed relative to store size (e.g., $150 PSF means $150 in annual sales per square foot). Normalizes performance across different store sizes for easier comparison.

Trade Area

The geographic region from which a retail location draws its customers. Can be defined by radius, drive/walk time, or foot traffic patterns. All site analysis (demographics, competitors, projections) is calculated within the selected trade area.

Trade Zone (Foot Traffic)

A trade area boundary derived from actual visitor data, showing where a location's customers come from based on observed foot traffic patterns. More accurate than theoretical drive times for understanding true customer geography.

VPD

Vehicles Per Day—the average daily traffic count on a road segment. Higher VPD indicates greater drive-by exposure and visibility potential.

Whitespace

Market areas with customer demand but limited competitor presence—gaps in coverage representing potential expansion opportunities.

Workspace

An organizational unit within your GrowthFactor account that scopes data and access. Workspaces form a hierarchy—your organization's root workspace contains all data, while child workspaces partition it by region, department, or any structure your team needs. Each member can have a different role (Viewer, Member, Admin) per workspace. See Workspaces.