3 Reasons Every Business Should Think About Location Intelligence
From the post:
The ease-of-use of mobile apps like Google Maps and Strava (which is now being used for urban planning) has inspired a lot of companies to start thinking differently about location. Consequently, a lot of IT professionals are getting asked to create location-based applications.
“IT is now being required to build spatially-aware or enabled applications, without a history of working with these technologies,” says Clarence Hempfield, Director of Product Management at Pitney Bowes. “That means organizations like Pitney Bowes have had to deliver these capabilities in such a way that a non-GIS expert can build and deliver spatial applications, without that foundation of years of working with the technology.”
This rapid consumerization of GIS technology has allowed anyone with a smartphone to use aspects of GIS technology with a few taps of their fingers, revealing valuable location intelligence data that they use to find new stores, directions and more… and consumers are expecting companies to follow suit.
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I was struck by the contrast between the claim “…and consumers are expecting companies to follow suit,” and the three reasons given for location intelligence:
- Local Can Amplify Social.
- Data and Maps Can Help You Plan for the Future.
- Location Can Super-Charge BI
None of those reasons confer benefits upon consumers. Demographics are used to project a consumer’s expected choices, limiting your range of selection to the expectations of the business. What if you or I are outliers? Does that simply not count?
Consumer research on consumers wanting companies to track them and combine data with other data sources? It may well exist and if it does, please put a pointer in the comments.
If you are not one of those consumers who wants to be tracked, invest in a cellphone pouch that blocks tracking of your phone.