Doing real estate business without information on the retail market or commercial sector firmly in hand is akin to the blind leading the blind. It's your job as a real estate professional to stay on top of the latest trends and metrics. The good news is that doing market research is easier than ever thanks to the abundance of information available online.

Having the latest information on the retail market or commercial sector gives you a better edge and a real head start in the highly competitive world of real estate marketing. Keep these facts in mind as you're building your research plan:

1. Keeping abreast of the latest news in retail marketing can help you stay on top of your game.

2. You can hire help to do the retail marketing research.

3. The latest retail market analysis information can flow directly to you with up-to-date online publications.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Get your own retail market reports

If you're willing to invest a little time, gathering your own retail market information over the Internet, both easy and inexpensive. Just remember that you need to go back and gather again to stay on top of the latest changes.

I recommend: Produce your own retail market analysis by reviewing real estate market reports from businesses like Colliers International USA. Reis offers commercial retail market reports and analysis that are easily downloaded for a small membership fee.

Hire a ringer to dial in details about retail market analysis

Retail marketing, analysis and research firms exist only to help you gather information about the latest trends, hiring practices and more.

I recommend: Polaris Marketing Research is a full-service research firm that can offer professional reporting on real estate and other market trends. Plunkett Research offers custom research on industry statistics and trends in retail marketing, and in-depth analysis of top companies.

Let the market research for retail and commercial sectors come to you

The real estate market, both retail and commercial, is a constantly changing entity. The smart seller--or buyer--will stay on top of trends and metrics with the latest newsletters and news sites.

I recommend: Commercial Property News offers a number of free online newsletters to help real estate professionals stay abreast of the latest retail business market research. Realty Times, the real estate news network, is another way to stay abreast of the latest trends and market information with a slant more toward the consumer retail market. They offer up-to-date information on the retail market and local market conditions.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  It pays to pay an expert. Even though hiring a research firm to gather information on the retail market for you instead of doing it yourself may seem like an unnecessary expenditure, it is often well compensated by eliminating the time, struggle and effort you otherwise would have spent researching an unfamiliar area.