Not sure what to make of spatial data? Trying to figure out the difference between trade areas and traffic trade areas? Use our guide! We’ve put together glossary of often-used terminology to help you quickly get up to speed with the language of location analytics:

 Business Analytics

1. Methods and techniques used to analyze any kind of business performance or influence.

Synonyms: predictive analytics, business intelligence

Clustering

1. Classifications based on a site’s proximity to competitors, demographics, psychographics and other location-specific factors.

2. A method used to analyze communities and competitors.

Drive Time

1. A technique for creating trade areas based on speed profiles and generic numbers of miles driven by customers who live around a site.

GPS Driving Data

1. Highly detailed records of anonymous data collected from GPS devices to reveal actual driving patterns.

2. Customer data that reveals generalized origin and destination information for consumer trips while incorporating extreme personal privacy protections. 

Synonyms: GPS data, driver demographics

Layering

1. Displaying combinations of data on a map for visual analysis.

Lifestyle Segmentation

1. Segmenting household-level customer data by demographic traits, spending behaviors, lifestyle habits and other factors.

2. The process of classifying customers in groups so a business can anticipate behaviors and analyze markets more precisely.

Synonyms: Customer profiles, customer personas

Mapping

1. Geographic context for where stores are and should be, based largely on lifestyle segmentations and local infrastructure.

2. The framework for spatial analysis. 

Synonyms: geospatial intelligence

Marketing Analytics

1. Using spatial data and GPS driving data to put customers’ needs at the center of highly targeted marketing campaigns.

2. Analysis of detailed data to measure performance and identify opportunities for increasing conversions.

Modeling

1. A forecasting process that enables companies to see which methods, sites or solutions score well against a “model” based on various influences—both positive and negative.

2. A method for predicting the best possible outcomes on future store performance, marketing, site selection, staffing and other business factors.

Synonyms: predictive modeling

Omni-Channel Retailing

1. A mix of physical store locations, online stores and mobile retail experiences.
2. Incorporating a variety of marketing channels and retail locations to enhance the shopper experience.

Synonyms: multi-channel retailing

Retail Optimization

1. A process used to identify the most promising, lowest-risk opportunities in site selection, market planning, advertising and more.

Predictive Analytics

1. Extracting data to identify patterns and predict future outcomes.

 Synonyms: business analytics, business intelligence

Radius Rings

1. Concentric circles based solely on distance

2. Analytics tool that does not factor in considerations such as rush hours, medians or traffic densities. 

Showrooming

1. The practice of visiting stores to examine products before purchasing them online.

2. The opposite of webrooming. 

Spatial Analysis

1. The process of evaluating stores, cotenants, competitors and customers based on location.

2. Turning raw spatial data into meaningful, actionable customer insights.

Synonyms: location analytics

Spatial Data

1. Customer data that factors in locational elements like mailing addresses, zip codes, and proximity to competitors. 

Synonyms: location data

Trade Areas 

1. The geographic regions from which a company generates the majority of its customers.

2. Areas traditionally built around where consumers live.

Traffic Trade Areas

1. Trade areas based on actual trip and traffic driving data

2. Trade areas that factor in time and day variances such as morning rush hour.

Webrooming

1. The practice of researching products online before visiting local stores to purchase them.

2. The opposite of showrooming.