SAN FRANCISCO—Wouldn't it be convenient if someone had clear, intelligent answers to most of your CRE-related questions? Problem solved. Nina J. Gruen, a.k.a. Ms. Real Estate, a.k.a. the principal sociologist overseeing market research and analysis at Gruen Gruen + Associates, is here to answer readers' questions.

Have a question for Ms. Real Estate? Ask anonymously by clicking here.

Dear Ms. Real Estate,

I am an independent retailer who has been located for the last two decades in a neighborhood strip center. The center is located in a relatively dense, close-in and growing suburb. The market area consists of both single and family households who, for the most part, have above average household incomes. I specialize in travel-related products. My business has continued to show modest growth over the last decade, particularly post-recession. My question is, how do I compete with the growing Internet market and the fact that larger-sized chains are now using metadata to better target their customers?

—Analog Retailer in a Digital World

Dear Analog Retailer,

You are rightly concerned about your future business prospects. The first thing you want to check out is how you are doing on the “buying side.” Typically, large scale retail chains have the decided advantage of being able to purchase products at a lower cost base.  Many years ago, I sat in a small, private session with some of our leading chain retailers, when the CEO of a very successful home products store set forth that “success in the retailing trade was all on the buying side.” Given the competition from the Internet, his comment is even more axiomatic today than it was then. But perhaps since you have been in business for two decades, you have been able to establish relationships directly with the manufacturers, joined a buying group with other independent retailers, or taken other steps to avoid or at least minimize the wholesale markup.

Fortunately, with “boots on the ground” so to speak, you do have a potential advantage on the selling side of your battle with your Internet competitors. Listening carefully and consistently to your customers both intuitively with your “third ear” and doing customer surveys can give you insights that will beat the analysis of metadata. By getting to know your customer base on a personal basis, you can track the demographic changes taking place within your market area and the extent to which these changes have affected your customers' purchase decisions. At best, you can equal or come close to equaling your Internet competitors on the buying side. But by responding appropriately to what your customers tell you in the selling side of your business, you can win out.