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GapMaps Live to improve brand decisions on physical locations
Tue, 24th May 2022
FYI, this story is more than a year old

Cloud-based mapping software organisation, GapMaps, has released its latest service GapMaps Live, promising that it will help businesses make better decisions about physical locations faster.

The company says the new platform is accessible via a single sign-in, and brands can quickly validate and make important location decisions with increased confidence and reduced risk.

GapMaps says this is possible based on the service's ability to visualise a range of critical data sets in maps that may include geographic, demographic, economic, customer or competitor intelligence.

GapMaps Australia CEO, Toni Newell, says the company has more than 500 brands using GapMaps Live across various industry sectors where a physical location is required.

"This includes fast food and quick service restaurants, cafes, healthcare and medical, fitness and wellbeing, childcare, allied healthcare, retail, supermarket and grocery, service stations and convenience stores," she says.

"After two years of lockdowns, brands with physical locations are now in a very different operating environment, with population movements and new hybrid working models all having a major impact on physical location decisions."

Newell says GapMaps has observed worker migration from the CBDs into the suburbs, which has a profound impact on brands trying to find the best locations for their operations.

"With GapMaps Live, they can quickly access the latest resident and worker populations and other demographic data right down to a very granular level to confidently make accurate location decisions," she says.

So what are the new features in GapMaps Live?

One platform to see everything

GapMaps Live allows brands to see their whole portfolio across different geographies to easily visualise, analyse, and compare all locations on the platform. In addition, organisations can customise GapMaps Live, such as visualising sales and performance data across all their sites.

"GapMaps Live has advanced location metrics tagging to filter and visualise locations on a range of specific factors. This may include asset or store type, operating hours, seating capacity or the property value," says Newell.

"Additionally, for greater mobility, the GapMaps Connect mobile app enables customers to update location details in real-time whilst on the road, such as adding photographs and notes on specific locations."

Visitation data from mobile devices

GapMaps says visitation data is another powerful new feature, where mobile device data is turned into business insights.

This allows brands to have the most up-to-date view of customer travel patterns. In addition, competitor catchment locations easily identify growth or optimisation opportunities. GapMaps says the new platform also illustrates how a new location may impact a brand's existing network and measure competitor proximity to an existing or proposed site.

GapMaps managing director and founder Anthony Villanti says his goal is to help customers remove the guesswork on physical location decisions.

"GapMaps Live is our most powerful mapping-platform release and it's enabling clients to manage their entire network of locations, whether in Australia, India, the Middle East, South-east Asia or South Korea, to ensure their business success," he says.

Businesses already using GapMaps Live include brands like Domino's, KFC, Starbucks, Burger King, Subway, McDonalds, PureGym Ektimal, Anytime Fitness and Goodyear.

In Australia and New Zealand, hose and fittings experts Hydraulink Fluid Connectors says GapMaps Live has enabled greater precision in its decision-making and provided the opportunity to create and adjust more precise areas for their customers.

"The creation of maps couldn't be simpler and the addition of layers with different area data, such as regional or district, means we can create what we need in just a few simple clicks," says the company.

"The fluidity and ease of use within GapMaps Live and its new features have vastly improved our location decision-making."