GIS: Mapping Out Competitive Intelligence

In today’s age of information, consumers use geospatial data to find their next vacation destination, new hang out spot, or the most efficient route to get from Point A to Point B with the least possible amount of traffic. 

Businesses, regardless if they are a small startup or a multinational entity, can also take advantage of geospatial data such as using geographic information system (GIS) and take things to a whole new level. There are a number of practical applications of GIS  in businesses and organizations alike such as geomarketing, but one angle many have yet to adapt into their practices but should is competitive intelligence.

Check out our article on Geospatial Data: How Does It Fit Into Business?

GIS in Competitive Intelligence

If geomarketing tells you all you need to know about your audience, geospatial competitive intelligence tells you all you need to know about your competitors. You can do a variety of assessments including but not limited to:

• Market Share

  Identify which and how much of the market you and your competitors have captured in a given area. This kind of data would dictate crucial decision checkpoints, such as restructuring your market strategy, identifying focal points, or even considerations of whether or not it’s time to cut your losses and move forward with a different location.

• Competitor Sites

Visualize and take note of your competitors’ location strategies. Are their locations in a given area evenly spread out? Are they denser in particular locations? What points of interests are they catering to: hospitals, schools, or residential areas? 

If several of your competitors are targeting the same audiences, placing themselves in the same area, and you aren’t, you can treat it as an indicator that you might be missing out on something. If your competitors are establishing themselves nearer their suppliers or distributors and their market share is growing, that’s another indicator you’d want to take a look at.

• Competitor Audience

It’s one thing to know your audience, it’s another to know your competitors’. With geospatial data, you can visualize the market and demographic your competitors are catering to. Cross reference that data with several other pieces of information, you’ll be able to derive strong insights that can dictate a game-changing strategy for your business.

Check out our article on GIS in Geomarketing

• Competitor Pricing

While this is a little more difficult to record and visualize just because there’s often a lot of data to process and store, it’s often well worth the effort.

Petroleum companies, for example, can use geospatial data to record and visualize the daily prices of their competitors in any of their locations to serve as a reference point and adjust accordingly. A retail company can keep track of their competitors’ sales and average prices. A real estate company can record and visualize the value of their properties for sale in comparison to the competition.

Webcast is the only 100% Filipino-owned Google Partner in the Philippines, including Google Maps Platform, with expertise in Asset Tracking, Supply Chain & Logistics, FMCG, and Oil & Petroleum.

Email us at marketing@findme.com.ph or fill up our Inquiry Form to know more about our partner discounts, perks, and other related geospatial tools for your organization.