Commercial Rental Benchmark

Rent is one of the biggest costs in a store’s P&L, yet expansion teams often negotiate with only the comparables a broker chooses to show. A predictive model could estimate a fair rent, but a model’s number means little to a business user unless they can see where it comes from and how a location sits in its market.

The moments of uncertainty

• ?Is this asking rent aggressive, or normal for this street?
• ?How sure is this estimate? Can I rely on it in a negotiation?
• ?Which listings is this based on, and are they like mine?
• ?What will this cost me per month, not per square foot?

Helping people find their bearings

I worked with the data team to understand the model’s outputs and with engineering on how the benchmark is scored, then explored several ways to represent it. The tool leads with rent per sq.ft and the estimated rent, shows how confident the estimate is, then how the location compares with relevant listings and where it sits within its market and city, with nearby properties on a map inside a radius the user sets.

What I chose — and why

1. 01

   Evidence, not just a number

   The benchmark is shown with the listings and market position behind it, so people can see why the estimate is what it is.

2. 02

   Confidence beside the estimate

   A high, medium or low confidence level sits with the benchmark, based on how many comparable listings support it, so a thin sample is easier to recognise as uncertain.

   Note: A rent number without its confidence is a guess dressed as a fact.

3. 03

   A map with a radius you control

   Nearby listings appear on a map within a user-set radius, so the comparison stays local and like-for-like.

4. 04

   Two depths for two audiences

   Free public pages show only where a location sits on a five-level rental tier, from lower to high tier, without exposing the model’s numbers. They build trust and lead people into the full tool.

   Note: Free pages get the tier, not the number.

5. 05

   Fit the business, not only the screen

   I worked through credits, billing and whether access should sit at organisation or brand level, so the tool fits how RetailIQ is sold and used.

Product

Two experiences: a full benchmarking tool inside RetailIQ with the benchmark, its confidence and the listings behind it, and free public pages that show a location’s rental tier and lead into the tool.

Capability

Teams can check an asking rent against the market and nearby listings before they negotiate, instead of relying on a broker’s comparables.

Status

Live. Early internal feedback focused on how listings appear on the map within the selected radius, which is being refined.

Product scale

3,000+ markets across Tier 1–3 cities.

The design problem wasn’t the model. It was deciding how much of the model to show, to whom, and in what order, so a number becomes something people can act on.