Environment and network grid analysis
Examining diversity in catchment areas to resolve specific analysis challenges and grid problems.
Each step described below is illustrated by an explanatory video.
To take the analysis one stage further : Download the the map so you can work through the exercises yourself after watching each of these sequences
Workshop led by Zoé Gonnon
Standard definition of catchment area
A variety of tools exist to allow you to generate zones in relation to existing objects more or less automatically. We refer in geomarketing to catchment areas, or zones of influence (land use planning).
Catchment areas may be theoretical or real, and show, for example, the origin of the major share of your customers for a given a point of sale.
They can take several parameters into account, such as the road network (accessibility according to vehicle type, one-way systems, no-entry thoroughfares…) basing calculations on either speed or distance. Equally, they may integrate notions of potential or again of competition.
There may be many catchment areas relevant to your study, and they will allow numerous indicators to be taken singly or together to point to whether a particular site is suitable for opening a new point of sale or not. These videos aim to show how the different tools can be deployed to generate catchment areas.
Objective 1: Generate convex zones to visualise a theoretical footprint
Definition:
a convex zone is defined ‘as the crow flies’: it is, in effect, a theoretical zone. It represents a minimum zone of attraction around a point of sale within which a certain number of customers are located. The zone is created by linking together a series of points for all representative customers affiliated to a common point of sale.
Utilisation?
- for rapid visualisation of overlap between two zones;
- cannibalisation studies;
- to observe customer affiliation to one or more zones.
1 idea to keep in mind
- Customers must be affiliated to a point of sale.
Objective 2: Create isochrone / isodistance zones to estimate customer base potential
Definition:
an isochrone or isodistance zone defines a zone around a departure point within which all points are accessible within a certain time (isochrone) or according to a previously defined distance (isodistance).
Utilisation?
- for grid analyses (if I delete one of my points of sale, will I still be accessible to my customers?);
- for siting a point of sale in relation to a target population;
- to study possible cannibalisation between points of sale.
3 ideas to keep in mind
- requirement for a .siti road network;
- take care when defining the snap to graph distance: if it is too short, the isochrone is not generated, since the graph does not link the point to the road, if it is too long, it could start from the wrong departure point;
- take care when choosing to give priority to distance over speed (in a mountainous area there may appear to be fewer kilometres to travel, but it will take longer to cover them).
Objective 3: Create customer zones to show where your customers are located
Definition:
a customer zone defines a zone created around a point of sale incorporating X% of its customers.
Utilisation ?
- know where the majority of my customers come from, and know the distance they are prepared to travel to arrive at a point of sale;
- perceive customer distribution in relation to points of sale;
- know your customers consumer strategies (of the customers who travel to a store that is further away -> why?).
3 ideas to keep in mind
- customers must have an assignment field linking them to a point of sale;
- the customer zone can be drawn ‘as the crow flies’ or according to the road network;
- take care when choosing to give priority to speed rather than distance (in a mountainous area there are less kilometres, but they will take longer to cover because of the relief).
Objective 4: Site your point of sale in relation to your target customer base by constructing a targeted zone
Definition:
a targeting zone defines a zone created from a reference point using a target field (number of households per town, for example). We create the zone around the point of sale, and add more towns to the zone until the desired value of the target field (number of households) is attained.
Utilisation?
- for direct mail or marketing campaigns, to target IRIS entities or towns offering greatest potential;
- when opening a new point of sale;
- to explain weak results yielded by a given point of sale.
3 ideas to keep in mind
- the areal objects to aggregate must have a field containing the target population;
- the targeted zone can be drawn ‘as the crow flies’ or following the road network;
- take care when choosing to give priority to distance over and above speed (in a mountainous area, there are fewer kilometres to travel, but they will take longer to travel because of the relief).
Objective 5: Open a new point of sale in a space where competitors are present and calculate your customer attraction zone
Definition:
a theoretical zone of attraction is built on a gravitational attraction model : the Huff model. It takes competitors into account and a field of attraction. It allows us to calculate a potential for the siting of a point of sale.
Utilisation?
- for the siting/opening a new point of sale;
- to study the potential of a zone in relation to existing competitors already located in the zone.
3 ideas to keep in mind
- competitor objects must have a field that can handle an attraction value as a variable;
- the distance of customers from the point of sale is taken into account in the attraction indicator;
- take care when choosing to give priority to distance over speed (in a mountain area, there are less kilometres to travel, but they will take longer to travel because of the relief).
Conclusion
The subject of catchment areas is a vast one, and multiple catchment areas are possible in Geoconcept to provide answers for many different problems and analyses specific to the customer objects they contain. It will be vital to spend time ascertaining which catchment areas to select for an analysis to be sure of obtaining pertinent results.
The time has come to put your new knowledge into practice! Your computer keyboard is ready and waiting… !