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| Ellerine Holdings Chooses The Location Intelligence Solutions of ST Group and Pitney Bowes to Optimise Business Decisions | Click here to download article |
25 November 2008
When Ellerine Holdings, one of South Africa’s leading retailers of furniture and consumer durables, looked to harness the power of location intelligence to optimise their business, they turned to specialists in location-based intelligence ST Group, and Pitney Bowes’ MapInfo solution. With more than 1100 branches accurate demographic information is of vital importance to Ellerines’ success.
After an initial demonstration of Pitney Bowes MapInfo’s capabilities by ST Group, following a recommendation from another company, Ellerines was satisfied that they could use the technology to their advantage.
This is according to Candice Burns, Marketing GIS Manager for Ellerines.
“The technology essentially allows for a ‘once-off picture’ of data previously almost impossible to access holistically through reams of paper-based information. This also means it can be viewed by many people at once. The enthusiasm at management presentations is enormous.”
Ellerines is currently one of the only leading retailers in South Africa using mapping to enhance its business.
“We found the initial start-up cost low, and the system was up and running quickly. We are currently using the full capacity of the tools the solution offers. I discover more uses for the software each day, and find that manipulating our own data makes using the programme easier and unlocks more and more capabilities. In essence, the product is as good as the data you feed it,” Burns says.
“It helps us to understand our customers by segmenting them, inter alia, according to where they live and how far they have to travel to reach a store.
“And the system is not only useful for mapping customers – by allowing you to track your competitors. Burns adds.
“We are also using and looking at the GIS application in other areas of the business which provides insight on not only our customers and competitors but other important measurable areas.
Mark Kindler, Product and Implementation Manager, ST Group points out that Ellerines has also purchased the Pitney Bowes MapInfo Vertical Mapper solution.
“This solution reveals implicit trends, and visualises hotspots in data - integrating seamlessly with Pitney Bowes MapInfo Professional. In Ellerines’ case, this allows the client to transform point data into continuous surfaces or grids, allowing them to display, manage, analyse, and interpret spatial information in a new and exciting way,” he observes.
Kindler furthermore points out that this solution will enable Ellerines to perform trade area analysis using a spatial interaction model, known as the ‘Huff’ model, which determines the probability of an individual patronising a particular retail site based upon criteria such as the attractiveness of the store and the distance one must travel to get there.
“The purpose is to calculate the drive-time around the store site, and factor this into the store’s location and design. Currently the street/road structure is not taken into account when planning the location of a store, and distances tend to be measured ‘as the crow flies’. ST Group’s Drive Time ZA solution will complement MapInfo in this regard, by helping to ensure that stores can be accessed easily from all directions,” Kindler explains.
“On the existing location intelligence implementation, ST Group provided Ellerines staff with an initial five-day training programme,” says Kindler.
“Our service includes ongoing after-sales support, and we assist whenever Ellerines experiences problems or needs information. We are proud to have partnered with a leading South African company such as Ellerine Holdings. Ultimately, this solution is not just about creating maps – it is about delivering true business value,” he concludes.
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