Choosing the Best Shopping Center Using the Multi-Criteria Decision Methods

This paper discusses the problem of choosing the shopping center which is the most suitable for doing shopping. In modern life circumstances, people constantly have less time available for activities such as shopping, especially in big cities, which gives the great deal of importance to this problem. Considering the fact that there is a large number of shopping centers, as well as many criteria which can directly influence the choice of the place where to go shopping, the problem is becoming more complex, so its solution requires using multi-criteria decision-making methods. This paper explains two methods used for solving of the considered decision problem: the AHP and the PROMETHEE method. Both of these methods have a strong mathematical background, but also include personal opinion of the decision maker. This implies that the choice of the best shopping center is made considering both objective and subjective factors and is closely linked to the specific decision maker. The differences and similarities in the ranking lists obtained by applying the methods mentioned above, indicate that the results of multi-criteria analysis should be understood as a recommendation, whereas the final decision is still to be made by the deciding person. In order to perform multi-criteria analysis and apply its methods, software developed for that purpose were used.