Relating to the use of business geographics (GIS) in fields such as retail, real estate, marketing, logistics, banking, insurance, etc
22
votes
2answers
836 views
GIS Consulting - How to Get a Foot in the Door?
I currently work for a very large company as a GIS developer, and while I am happy in my position for the most part, I can't help but wonder what life as a GIS consultant (i.e. working for myself) ...
16
votes
7answers
1k views
GIS data for fast food industry
I am working a small project related to fast food industry. I am trying find GIS data for fast food chains like subway, MC Donald's, Arby's, etc in state of Ohio. Basically, I am looking for point ...
16
votes
9answers
506 views
Freelancers, how do you handle deliveries to remote clients?
Freelancers and small business owners, how do you handle product delivery and support to your remote clients? Example: I have a client who knows enough about ArcMap to add a shapefile, turn layers on ...
16
votes
1answer
255 views
Gravity/Huff model tools
I am looking for a way to simulate a gravity model using a point-based layer.
All my points are assigned a z-value and the higher this value, the larger is their "sphere of influence". This influence ...
12
votes
5answers
1k views
Why the GIS industry is always ruled by two options only, namely ESRI products and OSGeo projects?
I always wonder, why in GIS industry there are merely two major options available. Although there are many other proprietary software products for GIS, their market share is well below ESRI products ...
12
votes
1answer
973 views
Open-source GIS implementation of the Huff model
This might be a stretch, but I was wondering if anyone implemented gravity modeling tools or scripts for Retail Market Analysis (like the Huff Model), to analyze spatial data for customer-store ...
11
votes
19answers
848 views
GIS Buzzwords Topic
What are the main buzzwords today in the GIS market? Let's place the meaning of these ones too, so beginners can enjoy the topic as well.
Example: SDI
"A spatial data infrastructure (SDI) is a ...
9
votes
1answer
223 views
How to find the most spread out locations?
Probably a very simple question. I have a list of about a thousand potential geographical locations (lat lon), and of those I need to select the 200 locations that are "most spread out". I think that ...
8
votes
6answers
408 views
PostGIS: Assign ID of point in layer A to closest point in Layer B
This should have been an obvious precursor (that I didn't ask) to my other question:
PostGIS function to create spider diagrams?
If I do not know the relationship between a point in layer A (stores) ...
8
votes
3answers
422 views
Top unsung business benefits for GIS
One of the biggest criticisms of GIS professionals is typically that GIS is an underused technology and as such the professionals feel frustrated that they only get to use it in very limited ...
8
votes
1answer
231 views
Looking for location intelligence tools and user experience reports [closed]
I am looking for location intelligence tools (= combination of business intelligence + GIS). I had a look at several options: SpagoBI, Microstrategy + VisualCrossing, Yellowfin, and Map Intelligence.
...
7
votes
3answers
159 views
Arguments for opening a GIS area in an important agricultural-related bank?
the managers of the bank where I work at have been considering creating a "GIS-unit" that would help with economic-related research / business inteligence. They asked me to raise a list of reasons of ...
7
votes
3answers
460 views
Benefits of using GIS in business intelligence software?
Business intelligence softwares use a lot of data in order to create reports helping decision makers. Given that more and more GIS resources and services are available and that data can often be ...
7
votes
1answer
290 views
Alternatives to ESRI Business Analyst
Does there exists any other software that can do store-level trade area analysis without much programming overhead? I am particularly interested in:
Creating cutomer-derived trade areas that ...
6
votes
2answers
465 views
What are best practices to compare densities and locations between two sets of points?
I have two sets of point shapefiles. They represent two different customer groups for a retail store. Shapefile A represents online customers, Shapefile B represents in-store customers.
What I ...
6
votes
2answers
77 views
constructing customer-derived trade areas
I am interested in creating some customer-derived trade areas that represent "most" of the customers for a given store (say 80%). I have both the customers and the stores geocoded.
The ESRI Business ...
5
votes
4answers
168 views
Advice on choosing ideal software for consultancy
I am taking the step to start a small business consultancy using digital map technology to assist retail business to better understand their environment and make informed location based decision. My ...
5
votes
3answers
918 views
How to create spider diagrams (hub lines) in PostGIS?
I'm rather new to PostGIS but I have done a lot of reading. One thing that I have been searching for is a function that allows users to create a "spider diagram" (also called "desire lines" or "hub ...
5
votes
5answers
248 views
GIS Solutions And ROI For Local Government
In your experience, what GIS solutions provide the greatest ROI for local government's responsibilities?
Examples: Parcel management, managing CRM cases from the public, emergency response, etc.
5
votes
1answer
311 views
Open source location allocation modelling
I'm looking for open source tools for location allocation modelling (eg planning public health facilities). Preferably in a GIS environment. I know GRASS somewhat, but v.net.alloc doesn't seem to ...
5
votes
2answers
241 views
Available US State or National business (or employer) database lists?
This question dovetails with this post on geomarketing applications.
I am familiar with some of larger, paid-for business registry's like InfoUSA and Dunn & Bradstreet. While the detailed ...
5
votes
2answers
79 views
How to find library or other business POIs?
I am just starting an Intro GIS course, so I really have no idea what the best place is to find downloadable GIS data. I was really hoping to do my semester project on library or bookstore locations ...
4
votes
8answers
921 views
Most common unmet GIS need for businesses
What would you say is the most common unmet GIS need for businesses, as far as technology goes?
I'm a programmer and I'm trying to think of a business idea. I like GIS, so I think I might want to do ...
4
votes
6answers
472 views
How do I explain what GIS is in a business context
This is hypothetical so don't ask for details:
I've heard of this GIS thing with computers and maps and stuff and it sounds like it might apply to this project I'm working on. Could you explain what ...
4
votes
3answers
223 views
Organization in a GIS Shop
This question is about staying organized and current on all your to dos and project tasks. For me I am an avid user of GTD and a variety of online tools such as evernote, toodledo, and gmail. I ...
4
votes
2answers
1k views
How can I compare two point shapefiles that contain lat/longs and compute distance?
Greetings everyone, I have 2 sets of point shapefiles in ArcGIS (group A and B), each set has around 1000 entries that contain lat/long. What I want to do is compare Group A against Group B and figure ...
4
votes
2answers
135 views
Detecting trends in local business web services
Do you know any research paper about spatial data mining algorithms to retrieve trends about local business services (such as google places.. etc)
let's say most rated restaurants this week.. etc ?
...
4
votes
1answer
133 views
Where can I find a national MLS boundary dataset for the US?
Every 6 months or so I continue to revisit a topic I have never found an answer for. What I am looking for is some type (ANY TYPE) of national map which outlines the boundaries of each of the 1000+ ...
3
votes
3answers
567 views
In ArcGIS how can I append the number of points that are located inside each individual block groups of the entire US?
I am using ArcGIS 10 and I have 2 shapefiles; (a) a polygon shapefile of block groups of the entire US, (b) a point shape file of customer locations throughout the US. What I want to know if how many ...
3
votes
2answers
225 views
Purpose of building footprints
What are the uses (public and private industry) of building footprints?
I'm trying to figure out how polygon building footprints can be used. i.e. are they used for determining tax liabilities, ...
3
votes
3answers
89 views
Where can I find high resolution data on residential land use?
I am currently searching for high resolution data on residential or commercial land use in the USA. I'd like to use this data to determine for a given location wether this location is in a house with ...
3
votes
1answer
111 views
Choosing a GIS which imports a list of stage addresses, calculates the route, allows to modify and export it
I'm new to GISs. I'm searching for a GIS to meet following requirements.
I have a list of street addresses [A,B,C,D,E,...], with additional information associated (basically which orders to deliver ...
2
votes
2answers
595 views
mysql database of bars, pubs and restaurants in the united states and maybe canada
I am mostly seeking Bars and Pubs but Restaurants are a very nice bonus. I need a database with zipcode, city, state, longitude, latitude, establishment name, establishment contact information, maybe ...
2
votes
5answers
225 views
GIS software to manage assets
How do you manage the following projects (i.e. what GIS software / platform would you use)?
An extensive Footpath Construction & Renewal Program
Improved drainage systems at x Street, y Street, ...
2
votes
1answer
121 views
Does anyone know how to get the Bing Search Toolbar to work again in ArcGIS 10 Business Analyst after the SP2 install?
I just updated my ArcGIS Business Analyst with the Server Pack 2 upgrade and now the Bing Search Toolbar does not work. Is anyone else having this problem and if so do you know of a way to fix it? ...
1
vote
1answer
107 views
Demographic Info within 3 miles of longitude and latitude
I want to get demographic information within three or five miles of a location given its longitude and latitude. The demographic info I am looking for include number of people, age distribution, ...
1
vote
1answer
186 views
Heat Map to find 10 restaurants, 10 retail, and 10 stores open after 6pm within 3 linear blocks
I would like to find where in the City there is a combination of 10 restaurants, 10 retail, and 10 stores open after 6pm within 3 linear blocks. What is the best way to do this? What data would I need ...
1
vote
0answers
96 views
Looking for symbology for NAICS codes
I am curious if anyone has come up or has a good graphic style they can share that is symbology for NAICS codes. I have a large dataset that I want to symbpolize based on the 2 digit NAICS industry ...
0
votes
0answers
145 views
What is difference between Geo BI (Geo-business Intelligence) and GIS (Geographic Information System)?
I tried finding information with difference between Geo Business Intelligence and Geo IS but unfortunately no clearly answer being found.
What is different between Geo BI and GIS and its ...
-1
votes
1answer
118 views
How to integrated GIS functionality into an existing web-based business process management software?
in a project I am doing, there is a need to combine data from different sources into a GIS and show it in one map. The data could be from ERP system like SAP or other sources.
which tool could be used ...
