The future of retail: a Geoblink exclusive with The Telegraph

We are pleased to announce that our recent interview with Alastair Greener from the Business Reporter section of The Telegraph newspaper is now live. Geoblink’s founder and CEO, Jaime Laulhé, was asked to participate in an expert Q&A segment on the future of retail in which he succinctly debunks the myths surrounding the “high street apocalypse”.

Contrary to what some skeptics may say, physical stores are still responsible for the lion’s share of sales in retail. If brick-and-mortar establishments were on the verge of extinction, there would be no logical explanation as to why internet pure players such as Amazon are opening physical representations of their digital platforms—the in-store experience matters. However, the strategic location of these physical stores is now more important than ever. During the interview, Alastair touches on this topic and inquires as to just how much companies can know about the local traits and the potential customers in a given area. With Location Intelligence, our CEO’s answer to that question was “quite a lot”.

Have a look at the entire interview in this video:

How can Location Intelligence provide strategic insights to retailers today?

It’s important to note that when we talk about Location Intelligence, we don’t just mean data on a particular address. There are many factors that can possibly affect a business’ success in a certain area. For example, the level of proximity a location has to competitors is essential to be able to keep track of their movements or guide an expansion plan. Other key location-based elements to keep in mind when evaluating a potential area is the quantity of footfall traffic it receives and the real radius of influence a catchment area truly has. Finally, the type of potential customer who frequents a certain location will affect their behaviour towards a particular product. Having all of this information ahead of time is a real game-changer for retailers today because it allows them to tailor their marketing actions to fit the context of customers in a given zone.

What is the added value of Location Intelligence?

As Jaime thoroughly explains in the interview and corresponding article in the series, this industry has no difficulty gaining access to a variety of data sources. The main challenge for retailers today is being able to transform this surplus of data into actionable insights, something we call “cooking the data” at Geoblink. This is the true value and core idea of Location Intelligence—crossing and compiling many data sources and enriching them to fit the individual contexts retailers face. With the help of advanced analytics techniques and machine learning algorithms, professionals from this industry don’t only have access to precise data but can also make predictions as to where to take their business next. This kind of refined data and predictive capacity is what empowers retailers , FMCG brands and real estate companies of any size to perform accurate sales forecasts, maximise their store network’s efficiency, optimise distribution routes, tailor marketing campaigns and guide their expansion plans.

Interested in untapping the potential of Location Intelligence for your business?

Ask for a demo and one of our experts will be happy to show you how.

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