The 10.7%

A publicly traded retail REIT wants to know if they should build a consumer loyalty program. For most of their portfolio, the honest answer is no. Nobody hires a consulting team hoping to hear that, and a student team saying it to a room of executives had better bring receipts.

Don't pitch the program. Build the filter. Score every property against the conditions loyalty actually needs: dwell time, visit intent, tenant mix, who controls the purchase data. Then let the portfolio rule itself out. Whatever survives isn't a compromise. It's the recommendation.

Four moves, each one narrowing the answer:

1. Disqualification before design.I built a five-variable scoring rubric from the 10-K's Schedule III, supplemental disclosures, and foot-traffic data, and we ran the full operating portfolio through it. 81% of rent revenue failed the filter: short visits, errand traffic, anchors that won't share data. Roughly one property in ten passed.
2. Answered the toughest question in the room.'Why has no competitor done this?' I took that one, benchmarking 1,179 properties across four national peers. The client's pilot-eligible concentration: 10.7%. Peers: 0 to 5%. Nobody else has done it because nobody else can do it at portfolio scale. The objection became the pitch.
3. Rebuilt the ROI around the landlord's actual P&L.Rent escalator justification, tenant retention, leasing spreads, instead of consumer sales lift the landlord never captures. The executives in the room are paid on the first three. That's the version that got traction.
4. Ran vendor diligence to a decision, not a comparison matrix.Two platforms evaluated, one recommended, and a three-property pilot with a 32% IRR case, plus the diligence questions the client should ask before signing anything.