Episode#18

Using maps to create better trade area and business strategy with Jeff Vassel, Global BDM, geotech.

How often are you revisiting your franchise trade area assumptions, is it as often as every 12 months?

In Episode#18 - It feels like many brands haven't revisited their trade area assumptions since they did their first territory mapping perhaps even a decade or more ago.

Jeff Vassel, Global BDM for geotech, explains that brands who are actually serious about maximising opportunities, are constantly using performance data from new franchise locations opened, and cross-checking it with existing location data to see if the trade area assumptions are still correct!

Further, many emerging brands (young and smaller), are likely using tools like Google and Apple Maps as a beginning point, and ABS Census data to give themselves some data to act upon.

However, that this data mostly doesn't go deep enough or interactive enough for most brands needs, nor are the conclusions from them likely to be robust enough with which to base an entire brand trade area strategy on.

The dangers of getting this wrong at the start, without a scientific approach is a threat to a brands growth plans and achieving its market potential.

Gathering data in the first place at store / trade level, is a critical input, and then the other sources on top of it, such as the Mastercard Merchant Activity data that Jeff raises in their partnership with Mastercard.

According to Jeff, it is not uncommon to see brands carving out territories / trade areas that are perhaps in the realm of 5 times the size than they should be, resulting in significant unrealised opportunity. And in practical terms this might see a franchise with 40 instead of 100 locations as a result.

It's the interpretation of the data that also becomes equally as important given the impact of the decisions made, as it is pretty clear that unravelling poor trade area mapping is almost impossible without significant implications, once a franchise gets to significant size.

Time Stamps

0:37 What is mapping?

3:45 How mapping is being used at the moment in franchising

4:39 What people are getting wrong in their mapping activity for their franchise trade areas

5:53 How franchise trade area errors are made

6:55 The lack of science behind franchise trade area modelling for many brands and how often it should be assessed and revisited for accurate assumptions

8:45 What a franchisor could do to improve, and how to start with revisiting their territory assumption data

10:00 Destination v Impulse type of business and the impact on territory mapping planning

12:20 The process of building franchise trade zones with data

13:20 Consequences of franchise trade areas that are far too big

15:00 Peoples behaviour patterns and what they look like since covid period

15:53 The importance to keep reviewing franchise trade area assumption data

Podcast Produced by: magnetic business media

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