Geography Makes a World of Difference in Business

Adding a geographic component to business analysis provides clarity. Geography makes it possible to route customers to stores, find the best site, segment consumers for more targeted marketing and promotions, and identify the most profitable trade areas, to name a few.

In February's edition of Integrated Solutions for Retailers (ISR), Rudy Nadilo, CEO at GIS solutions provider geoVue explains that "retailers that haven't taken the power of GIS technology beyond route mapping and store locators are "missing the side of the barn.'"

Many businesses have not only found the side of barn, so to speak, but have made a bull'seye thanks to the benefits geography and geographic information systems (GIS) provide.

Do your customers need to find you? American Suzuki Motors has found Internet mapping makes it easier for potential buyers to find local dealers.

Do you need to find your customers? Sears Product Repair Services is using GIS to manage a fleet of more than 100,000 mobile workers.

You don’t have to be a big company to benefit from using GIS to manage mobile resources, as Apex Office Supply shows. This small company uses GIS to make the best use of its fleet and keep the company one step ahead of the big guys.

Coinstar has made a lucrative business from the loose change most Americans have jangling in their pockets and a lot of that success can be attributed to GIS. "We've seen a number of benefits including more informed planning and decision making, optimized allocation of resources, and improved performance," says John Chestnut, GIS analyst, Coinstar.

The Washington Times  was able to analyze its subscribers accurately and increase both subscriptions and readership, all from looking at and analyzing demographics on a map.

Simon Thompson, ESRI, states in the ISR article, “The next sophisticated step for GIS concerns geomarketing—understanding a very deep-level analysis about individuals within specific geographies.” He goes on to say that this is being driven by the integration of GIS solutions with business intelligence (BI) and business analytics providers, such as geoVue, SAS, Information Builders , and BusinessObjects.

The marriage of BI and GIS capabilities is resulting in greater value from both applications. Much of this is through the unique charting capabilities of GIS in the form of spatial relationship and distribution charts.

For example, node-to-node supply chain performance data presented as bar charts or dashboards does not supply the location information needed for planning improvements. The same performance report presented as a map immediately shows spatial relationships between nodes that could explain variations in performance.

Want to know more? Read the white paper: GIS and Business Intelligence: The Geographic Advantage.

Businesses have no reason to miss the barn. You can apply the geographic advantage just as these companies have.

• Online training, workshops and podcasts are available for learning at your own pace.
• Many books are available on how to use GIS software and data as well as examples of real world applications.
• Better yet, don’t miss the Business GeoInfo Summit coming to Dallas, Texas, April 23–25, 2007. This conference is recognized as the premier GIS forum for industry professionals and business executives.