Introducing getchee Enterprise v1.0b. This Web-based location intelligence tool is packed full of great features that enable effective site selection, network management and trade area analyzes for site locations in Asia.

Getting Started - Learn how to create projects and start using getchee.

Site Selection - Tools to help you easily find and analyze great site locations.

Site Ranking - Find out which sites outperform others. It’s a painless process.

Trade Area Analysis - Understand how your trade areas interact with other trade areas.

Starbucks Coffee Thailand - A Case Study

Problem

With escalating capacity and competition, time and speed to market in untapped territories increase Starbucks’s effort to remain a leader in the Thai marketplace.

Solution

A getchee system to segment different demographics and estimate sales potential of a given area, based on customer visits and expenditure per ticket.

Summary

Company - Starbucks Coffee Thailand, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Starbucks Corporation, with its first store open in July, 1998, is a relatively young presence in Thailand, nevertheless has seen rapid expansion throughout the nation in the past decade. Of the total 131 stores in Thailand, 94 are located in Bangkok. The core Store Development team, made up of 3 people, has their vision to continue expanding within Bangkok, a market that looks saturated at first glance, but is still believed to have great potential. The strategy is to unearth hidden pockets in the city where a primary target audience of 16-44 year olds can be found in high concentrations. A single store generally serves an average of 200-300 customers a day. Malls with a rounded tenant mix are attractors and popular streets with heavy footfall seem like strong locations. Careful store planning is necessary to justify a minimum investment of 250k USD per store.

Challenge - Neighborhood demographic data in emerging markets, including Thailand, retain at a macro level and surveys carried out to increase granularity bear high costs. Traditionally, Starbucks Coffee Thailand had deployed information from paper and digital maps, and assembled data with further support from site surveys to make siting decisions. With added local knowledge and gut feeling, short-listed locations are pretty much set for store execution. With escalating capacity and competition, time and speed to market in untapped territories increase Starbucks’s effort to remain a leader in the Thai marketplace.

“Instead of augmenting our best practices, getchee gives me a quick glance of an area so I have a good sense of the kind of trade area the potential store is in.”

Manual labor, a concerted effort, sees a new light as location intelligence with enhanced data and mapping capabilities added a new dimension to the development process. As a regional effort, getchee, Asia’s only location intelligence mapping tool recommended to the local team by the Asia Pacific head office located in Hong Kong, increased efficiency mainly by saving time on data collection and enhancing siting capabilities by validation of target demographics and location dynamics. “Instead of augmenting our best practices, getchee gives me a quick glance of an area so I have a good sense of the kind of trade area the potential store is in”, says Supoj, Development Manager of Starbucks Thailand. Demographics distilled to a trade area size as small as 200m are made available via quick reports, easily printable or shared through getchee’s Enterprise tool.

Result - Based on Starbucks’ specific target audiences, getchee is able to segment the different demographics of the population and estimate the sales potential for a given area based on customer visit frequency and expenditure per ticket.

“We can’t cut and paste U.S. standards of siting in these regions, but with getchee, a pattern can begin to form.”

Furthermore, enriched proprietary data such as day-time and working population gives the team an even more accurate estimation of transactions during the day compared to night-time. Starbucks Thailand gained answers through hard numbers found conveniently via a few clicks on getchee through the Web. Other advantages the team found were the heat maps which they deemed unprecedented in the market. The maps are customized to the relevance of the coffee business and help visually focus on areas that matter. “These intensity or heat maps save me a lot of time when I’m making a search”, Supoj says. Even in the early stages Starbucks Thailand found getchee uncomplicated to use. With the suggestions and tweaks the team freely shares in the process not only reflect on the output, but improves future product enhancements. Overall, the Asia Pacific head office says that the benefits getchee brings are beyond data and numbers. It is in a standardized process they inculcate through the use of getchee that the regional managers can increase expansion and siting methods in the long term via the same platform. “We can’t cut and paste U.S. standards of siting in these regions, but with getchee, a pattern can begin to form,” Supoj explains.

Download this case study.

近年來最嚴重的金融海嘯狠狠地衝擊了世界各國的經濟，在一片哀鴻遍野聲中，仍舊有不少的公司持續著市場開發的腳步，試圖在低迷的不景氣中殺出一絛生路。不過由於零售市場的整體消費力萎縮，該如何重新調整零售點在地理市場上的佈局，使其更能夠發揮最大效益，則成了業者們需處理的首要課題。最近我的客戶就問我：在getchee的市埸決策分析系統中有一種資料叫intensity，這可以怎麼樣應用來幫助我的分析呢？其實，如果想要很快地抓出巨觀市場中該專注的區域，這時候，使用能在地理環境上展現聚集強度的intensity型態資料，對於整體發展網絡的檢視，可就幫了大忙了。

所謂intensity型態的資料，即是將目標資料內的所有數字予以分級(通常分為5級)，運用顏色的漸層(即由淺到深)，來表現數字由小到大的各組距，然後在地圖上呈現其分佈，形狀通常為不規則的形狀。對使用者來說，使用這種型態的資料，可以很快地幫助其在短時間內找出哪些區域是該優先關心的，或者反過來優先刪去最不具有開發價值的地區。intensity型態的展現方式可適用於不同種類的資料，像是目標客群、推估的市場潛力、竸爭對手的數量、以及基本的人口統計資料等。在使用方式上，使用者可以在getchee市埸決策分析系統中開啟intensity型態的圖層，搭配分析所需的POI，很容易地就可初步辨示出市場的缺口所在。因為各等級之間有相對性的比較關係，孰高孰低很容易就看得出來。當所有的市場缺口已經被定義出，接下來便可再針對有興趣的目標地區進行進一步的分析與研究。由於這類型的資料很容易閱讀與理解，大大地節省了開發者進行市場判斷與制定決策的時間成本。

不過，客戶也曾問過我，既然實務作業上還是得產出精細的資料來作進一步的市場調整策略的依據，使用intensity型態的資料不是多此一舉嗎？其實不盡然。別忘了，intensity型態資料的最大優點就是快、狠、準─快速反應市場長像、簡潔解讀市場資訊、以及準確找到目標地區。尤其是在分析一個不熟悉的新市場時，與其一開始花時間沒有目的地掃遍各式各類的所有資料，還不如先用intensity資料來抓出該花時間好好研究的區域來得有效率。除非有任何特別的理由非得從一開始就遍覽群文，不然，這麼好用的資料，何不善加利用呢?

這裏也有一個小提醒要告訴大家。由於intensity型態的資料是應用組距的概念將數字分級來表達環境現況，並無法精確告訴使用者某一網格或是某一不規則範圍內實際的數字是多少。不過使用者可以確切地知道，在地理環境上，一定有地區落在intensity資料中各組距的上下限，對判斷市場潛力的落差有很大的幫助。有機會的話，不妨來體驗一下intensity資料與getchee市埸決策分析系統所帶給你的便利喔！

Press Release: getchee Expands Automotive Clients

getchee, a Taipei-based data and Web analytic company announced collaboration with GeoPro, a professional management services company, to expand services to automotive clients.

“This new target industry marks a continued relationship that GeoPro and getchee have fostered since getchee’s induction in 2007,” said Bruce Berkman, Chairman of getchee. “We look forward to providing great value map data for automotive professionals throughout the region.”

GeoPro will provide custom management consulting services to automotive clients to expand their brand, and adopt getchee Enterprise to visualize the project data and outputs.

“While world economies aim to balance in today’s turbulent conditions, managers are compelled to make even more strategic assessments on market planning, ” says Wong Chin Chu, Product Marketing Manager of getchee. “Seeing is believing, and the availability of online data, by getchee, is changing the way retailers seek and make location decisions.”

Points of Interest

You have seen them around; they stand at the door openings looking at you. With an instant screening process they can decide if you should be approached or not. When you are in a rush, you walk by them without saying a word, or increase your pace and say you are late for a meeting once they flag you down. I am talking about surveyors!

I mentioned in a previous post that we have a dedicated team who are out on the streets collecting information through surveys, not only from consumers but also point of interest data. They are verifying that no road was left out of their survey. Did I mention of this all happens without a GPS? Due to laws and regulations, foreign companies are not allowed to own and use GPS devices in China.

If only we were able to implement GPS systems, our work would be so much easier! It is not the case, however, and we have to do it the old-fashion way; with a pen, paper-map, a notebook and a good pair of shoes. Our guys are out there rain or shine making sure the maps and related information are correct.

These people collect the raw data for necessary to make intelligent business decisions. This data is enough to arm you with the knowledge necessary to know what side of the street to open your coffee store on.

They do this day in and day out to make sure we are able to capture what is out there. These guys walk kilometers everyday or stand hours in a shopping area asking questions. Their hard work ultimately helps you make better decisions.

I think it is a job that people take for granted, and we don’t spend enough time realizing this. Next time when you see them in the field, please do them a favor and make their work enjoyable by answering a few questions.

Now will all the surveyors please stand up and receive a warm applause?

Parents line up to treat infected victims.

Flooding the headlines for weeks now has been the China tainted milk powder scandal. It has caused the death of four babies and sickened more than 54,000 children, not to mention causing national and global anxiety.

The milk scandal erupted last month when the public learned that melamine, which is used to make plastics and fertilizer, had been found in milk powder and was linked to kidney stones in children and babies. Other milk products, such as liquid milk, yogurt and products made with milk have also been found to be contaminated. The hardest hit areas are found mainly the northern provinces of China. Medical aid and advice needs to be deployed effectively to provide information and support to prospective victims and parents.

Tainted Milk Infected Areas

A quick analysis on the population of Tianjin (11 million people), reveals different concentration levels of impacted areas where a high density of 0-5 year olds are found. The sample case shows level-5 areas are high residential areas with many children, therefore more mobile care units are needed.

These mobile care units can be the direct contact point for concerned parents and if medical supplies permit, even preliminary health checks can be done. This way, the problem can be rectified quickly.

Location intelligence can help reveal which supermarkets or hyper marts sold more tainted milk. This information can be used with mapping to help the re-calls of the contaminated products.

The population was projected from 2005 statistics.
Methodology is owned by GeoPro, with data provided by getchee.

Case study assumptions: baby–toddlers from 0-5 years, residential areas, supermarkets/hyper marts which distributes milk products.

這陣子我常接到某位客戶的來電，詢問有關選點方面的看法。最近他們的通路部門正嘗試著使用getchee市場分析工具所提供的各類資料，找出具有高市場潛力的區域，作為考慮設點的標的。可是，由於這跟其內部以往選點的作業及分析方式不同，業務單位對通路部門從getchee上產出的資料有諸多不同的聲音與質疑，讓通路部門的同事很困擾，不知道該用什麼樣的方式與業務單位溝通比較好。所以他來電求援，想聽聽看getchee這邊對於選點的方式有沒有好的建議。

其實這位客戶並不是第一個提出如何在分析上應用getchee資料問題的使用者，許多不是很了解地理環境資料使用的人，大多會有相類似的疑惑。這些問題的背後，牽涉到了幾個層面，一個是企業內部既行的市場分析模式—多以數字為導向為大宗，另一個是企業針對選點所建立的條件假設，還有則是企業內部使用者對於getchee 這類市場決策分析工具的熟悉度。大多數人在進行選點時，多半先看數字的大小來下初步決定—選居住人口數高的，選辦公大樓多的，或者直接選大眾運輸交會處密集的。當符合條件的地區篩選出來之後，才來「修正」或「討論」選址的條件—有沒有其他的主要竸爭者已經存在了、夠不夠支撐所有的主要業務、該選路口還是沿街面等。表面上這樣的選點過程看似有邏輯，如果仔細想想，就會發現其中遺落了幾個重要的問題：潛在客戶是以上班族還是住家為主？營業時間是僅限白天時段還是全天性質？在不在乎同一區域內主要竸爭者的數量？一家店負責多大距離的營業範圍？設點的考量是小區域性質來看還是以縣市角度出發來看通盤佈局…等等。如果使用者自已對選點這件事沒有清楚的假設條件，光靠數字做判斷的話很容易就迷失在數字所營造出的不真實裏。有些使用者可能還會運用所謂的經驗法則，與數字一起搭配進行分析以降低選點失敗的風險。只是經驗法則故然有其可取之處，一但遇上了全面性的佈點檢討、與主要竸爭者在市埸上硬踫硬、或是決定大規模的策略發展計畫時，則就顯得薄弱許多。這時候如果能使用資料可以在地理環境上立即呈現的分析工具來幫助決策，則就能提供很大的幫助。

當我們協助客戶處理這方面的問題時，除了再三強調選點的假設建立一定要夠清楚之外，其中一項重要的工作，就是教育客戶解讀地理環境的資料。在getchee這套視覺化的市場決策分析工具中，所有各類型的市場資料都是在電子地圖上予以圖像化呈現。不論今天客戶是要進行特定區域內的市場分析，還是要綜覽大環境的發展狀況，使用者都可以在getchee中看到數字落在地理環境上分佈的狀態，很快地就可以判別出那些地方需要優先關心，而那些地方具有開發的市場潛力。尤其getchee提供了多種的資料型態，像是poi市場興趣點、依標凖地理單位計算的統計資料、用不規則型態以及顏色深淺來表現之各類活動聚集強度等，使用者在進行選點或者市場分析時可運用的方式就變得很多元。至於如何在選址分析的過程中應用這麼多種類的資料呢？通常我們會建議使用者採「top-down」的方式來看市場—即從macro market到micro market的概念。首先可使用intensity型態的資料來了解整體大環境的長像，找出有問題或是值得觀注的區域。接著可依分析的目的選用適當的資料種類，來找出符合其假設的小範圍目標區域，例如使用客製化的segment資料、依標凖單位面積或行政界計算的統計數據等，進行進一步的篩選。然後根據選點的假設，對篩選後的區域進行各精細的分析，像是包括竸爭者的數量計算、市場淨值的估計、甚至是設點後的各點優劣排序等，都可以透過getchee得到循序漸進的分析結果。使用者從getchee的操作當中，不僅可即時看到數字反應在地理上的結果，還可獲得系統精算後的各類數字，結合在內部的分析報告中。經過這樣子的程序所產出的選址決定，相信比單就看數字與經驗法則來判斷，要來得可靠多了。

gethcee這套市場決策分析工具想要帶給使用者的經驗，並不是替換掉使用者原本進行的分析方法，而是希望協助客戶提升現行的分析方式，讓選址與市場分析更為客觀，結果更具可信度，並加速制定決策的過程。getchee—結合資料與圖像的視覺化市場決策分析工具，所帶給使用者的，將遠比數字本身多更多呢！

A writer of The Herald Tribune wrote: “There are two kinds of people in this world: those who divide the world into two kinds of people, and those who don’t.” In consumer technology, there are the feature listers, and then there are the elegance appreciators. Feature listers are those that judge a product by a single criterion: How many features it has, no matter how clunky the design. Elegance appreciators, on the other hand, prefer something that does less, but does it better. Fortunately, this group has been on the rise lately.

Global companies have been advancing themselves from this angle, upgrading products and gadgets to do more and more.

At getchee, we have no ambitions of creating a solution for everybody in the location intelligence world. The appeal retains in a few simple solutions such as analyzing a site’s trade area, comparing one site with another, printing reports and managing overlapping zones. The entire concept is to eliminate complexity for the user by stripping away the fudge, while retaining the key elements that make the product simple to use and answers the few questions you have with regards to site selection.

Goodbye superfluous, hello minimalistic.

Perhaps in the future there will be much more getchee can do. But for now, not everyone needs a Porsche, when a sedan will suffice. Experience the benefits of analyzing a location and find that the essence of simplicity can be found within complex solutions.

A bustling Shanghai night.

Not so long ago, a client asked us to do 40+ tier city study on a 1×1 km grid of China. They wanted it to be complete within 3 months as they planned to roll out their new initiative by winter 2008. The client came from the US and had some successful experiences in South East Asia. Although they saw Shanghai as a very modern city, I wonder if they had the chance to visit some of the tier 2 & 3 cities in which they were planning to expand their business.

Many of the big players in this industry have access to a lot of data that they can purchase at once. This data is collected from numerous vendors, and they all use their own standards for processing and quality control. The data is processed and cleansed until it is ultimately fit for analysis. Often what happens is that it becomes difficult to know the true source from which the data came. It could potentially be corrupt, given the fact that different vendors use different methodology for standardizing and processing location-based data. How do you know that they use the same standards across different regions?

At getchee, we use one standard for processing location-based data for countries in Asia. We control all processes, starting from the first layer, which is collecting data first hand. I work daily with a dedicated team that continuously processes data with meticulous precision. They are out there on the streets and come back with raw data. We cross check this data and clean it before putting it in our system for further use. Only then we can absolutely guarantee that the output is at least 80% accurate. Data will rarely be 100% accurate. I would be fooling myself and the client to think that we could produce 100% accuracy. There is no such thing, especially in emerging markets such as China. We only need to look at Beijing, where so many stores have popped up like mushrooms just before the Olympics, and how many will remain standing 3 months from now.

That is why creating data and standardizing it with one process is not easy. The market is changing quickly. Today’s collected material is tomorrow’s old news. Different cities and different regions use different systems (e.g. in Beijing we have the famous Hutongs, but in Shanghai they are called Nong). How can we make sure that clients understand this when we present this in getchee Enterprise, our online software? That is one of the challenges we face everyday when we want to apply one systematic methodology to our data and give it the quality it needs to be.

We know the information that we produce is important for our clients and it needs to be correct and accurate; to this we truly care. When we received this request from our client, we openly talked about the challenges of the quality if this project would have to be finished within 3 months. I know the client preferred a “yes” answer, but they also appreciated our commitment to deliver only the best output possible. In the end, the client didn’t walk away and we found an alternative.

I considered writing a lengthy post about the differences between data in Asia vs. data in the West.   Instead, I found some clever images created by a Chinese, who grew up in Germany.   (sorry name unknown)  The BLUE represents a Westerner and the RED represents an Easterner.

- lauri

P.S. You can find more images at: http://www.mountainrunner.us/2008/01/differences_between_eastern_an.html

"Opinion"

"Things that are new"

"Population"

"At a Party"

"Me"

"Anger"