Sectioning, or mapping delimitation, is a crucial step that has to start off the process. It enables to obtain an incisive profile of what makes up a territory. It reveals each market area’s strengths and weaknesses, and thus enables to begin various works such as territory hierarchization, optimization, potential, etc.

It is important to grasp that any section ing stems essentially from market realities specific to the industry in which your firm operates and can take account of administrative and/or political links within the territories to be sectioned

Indeed, the only criteria and variables studied as part of a given region’s sectioning are as follows, without any order of priority:

demographic barriers: residents’ socio-demographic profiles (income, age, unemployment rate, etc.) and their consumption habits;

geographical and/or psychological barriers: autoroutes, bridges, rivers, parks, golf courses, railroad tracks, industrial areas and market types (high-end, entry-level);

major trunk roads (autoroutes and boulevards) as well as local users’ travelling or commuting preferences (how and where they go into and come out of the market);

commercial area evolution: mix and distribution, scope, appeal, exhaustion, maturity and moves.

major residential areas: dwelling types, growth, development, area maturity, and movements into and out of the residential area.