GapMaps launches Impact Analysis to transform location planning for new fitness centres

The fitness industry along with hospitality, retail and entertainment sectors are identified as being set to benefit from the actionable insights offered by Impact Analysis - a new tool launched by location intelligence specialists, GapMaps.

Impact Analysis is a new tool within GapMaps Live and is designed to help brands evaluate the potential effects of new physical locations on their existing networks.  

When assessing potential locations for new premises, Impact Analysis accounts for critical external factors such as road networks, physical barriers, drive-time routes, and customer trip patterns. This comprehensive evaluation equips network planners with detailed projections of how a potential location may influence existing sites, empowering them to make informed, strategic decisions and avoid cannibalisation.

Anthony Villanti, GapMaps Managing Director and founder, brings more than 30 years’ experience in network planning. Explaining the significant benefits Impact Analysis can have in assessing new locations, Villanti notes "throughout my career, I have seen firsthand the importance of understanding customer travel patterns for developing sustainable network strategies. 

“That’s why Impact Analysis is a game-changer, removing time-consuming manual processes and offering businesses the ability to quickly estimate how a new location may affect their existing network.

“For retailers, franchise owners and network planners, location decisions are critical to success. In such competitive markets, there’s no room for suboptimal choices, which can have long-term repercussions on profitability, often making recovery a challenge.”

How Impact Analysis Works
The GapMaps Impact Analysis tool uses mobile device data to simulate customer journeys to current locations, enabling network planners to evaluate the accessibility of new locations for existing customers. Key features include:

• Understand Impact: Quantify the effect a new site may have on nearby established locations.

• Scenario Planning: Model potential sites to assess how each could impact the network.

• Visualise Customer Journeys: Gain insights into customer journeys using mobile device data, with convenience lines plotted between current and proposed sites.

• Manual Verification: Enhance data reliability through manual examination of routes, customer flows, and projections.

“Impact Analysis is Ideal for businesses with multiple physical locations that are expanding their footprint, offering essential insights for maximising profitability and optimising network strategies,” adds Villanti.

Founded in 2013, GapMaps is an Australian-built and owned company with global capabilities, empowering decision makers in multiple industry sectors refine their network strategies with location intelligence and demographics. Its dynamic products can be easily adapted for any market or industry and today is being effectively used by more than 500 brands in Australia, New Zealand, Asia, the Middle East and Africa to make location intelligence data easily obtainable for more accurate business decision-making.