Location intelligence (referred to often as LI) is rapidly increasing in importance when it comes to capturing accurate data and creating a great customer experience, and according to our report, 97% of businesses are planning to spend the same or more on location intelligence in the next 3 years.
Ok, but what exactly is location intelligence?
A simple way of describing LI is as a set of applications, such as geocoding, address data verification, data cleansing, property profiling and neighbourhood analysis. It helps businesses get a better understanding of their customers’ needs, reduce costs, calculate optimum routes, value property, improve deliverability and increase efficiency.
What did we find?
One of the key findings from our report was that firms from a range of sectors are employing LI across customer experience areas, such as enhancing digital experience (71%) and mobile engagement (64%), to improve how they engage customers across all stages of the life cycle. Though it is not without its challenges…
What are the key challenges and how can SMEs overcome them?
When it comes to the biggest challenges facing location intelligence, two in particular stand out. The first is that nearly half of the businesses we spoke to said they didn’t have a good enough understanding of data compliance, and the second is that almost the same amount of businesses claimed that they lack the technology needed to properly analyse data and execute with locational data.
What may come as a surprise to many companies is that the majority of customers we spoke to are in favour of sharing their location data in exchange for discounts and vouchers, giving businesses the opportunity to build strong customer relationships. Customers aged 18 to 24 are particularly interested in providing their location data for a better customer experience, as are over half of those aged 45 to 50.
Understanding what customers want and implementing the tools that will enable this can dramatically improve a business, and the importance of LI in engaging with customers will become even more critical in the future.
Overcoming these challenges to take full advantage of location intelligence is essential for SMEs. This may seem like a daunting challenge, but with the right tools and know-how, it can be done, and doing this sooner than later is vital for building customer relationships, improving locational data and building brand reputation.
