Intelligent location data: The foundation for smarter business decisions

The concept of location is critical in virtually all aspects of business. Insurance companies rely on knowing the location of their insured properties to assess risk. Retailers look for location insights to know where their target customers are, so they know the best place for their next franchise.

It sounds simple, but these insights can only be extracted after masses of data have been validated and analyzed. Data analysis firm Precisely is a specialist in helping location-focused businesses create useful insights from location data. Location data which TomTom has been supplying for over 20 years.

Let’s look at two key industries Precisely operates in, and how they use location data to help companies in these industries excel.

The insurance industry: Eliminating inaccuracies in risk analytics

The impact of location

Underwriting accuracy greatly impacts an insurer’s profitability. One aspect of this accuracy is knowing the exact location of what is being insured. Knowing the location, down to the parcel or building level, includes valuable information that can indicate proximity to different kinds of risk.

In the United States, the cost of flood damage was approximately $17 billion annually between 2010 and 2018, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Knowing whether an insurance policy ties to a property contained within a flood plain helps underwriters generate more accurately priced policies and reduce losses.

The challenge

Miscalculation of a location’s risk profile is a common problem when a policy is priced using inaccurate location information. If a property is thought to be somewhere it’s not, the resulting policy will not be a true reflection of that property’s risk. Accurately defining property locations is a key focus for Precisely and its insurance customers, but how can accuracy be improved over current methods?

The solution

Rooftop geocoding is the process of pinpointing a building or structure’s actual location versus the center of a land boundary that’s generated from its address. Locating buildings in this way eliminates inaccuracies that could find their way into risk calculations. In other words, it enables insurers to price policies accurately and correctly.

The retail industry: Demographic and location data for stronger customer targeting and segmentation

The impact of location

Retailers are constantly being challenged to create more personalized, customer-centric experiences to outdo the competition. In response to these challenges, they are turning to location data and analytics to hone their business decisions and guide customer-marketing initiatives.

The challenge

To ensure campaigns are shown to the right audiences, marketing firms demand robust geospatial and demographic insights. Location analytics tools, when used appropriately, can provide retailers with the key insights to develop a successful retail marketing strategy.

The solution

Site selection is a major ingredient of any retailer strategy. The location of a store or restaurant can make or break its success. Analyzing locations with geospatial data and tools gives quantitative and qualitative support that can help stores choose the best location for new branches.

Additionally, knowing where a retailer’s target customers live can enable more impactful and efficient marketing campaigns.

Building on TomTom’s location data, Precisely’s demographic dataset can make these solutions a reality for retail businesses.

Precisely’s demographic data ranges from a national to individual level and can provide businesses with granular insights into the lifestyles of customers and target markets. It means campaigns can be more cost effective, messaging can be stronger, and offers made more strategic based on where and who they are shown to.

Spatial insights can be used to identify potential retail location sites and evaluate the competitive landscape.

In simple terms, Precisely’s extensive demographic and location dataset enables businesses to better understand and reach their customers.

Whether it be insurance or retail, the main challenge Precisely faced when developing its data analytics systems was finding the best third-party location provider. So, where did they turn?

TomTom location data shows the way

When selecting its data supplier, Precisely considered the data’s coverage, content, completeness, correctness and freshness. The company regularly assess its suppliers against these values and works closely with them to feedback observations.

Having suppliers that can offer global data – with detailed content that is regularly updated and provided in a consistent format – is vital for Precisely’s ability to deliver its data and software products to its customers. That’s why the company chose to use TomTom data.

Dan Adams, VP of Data at Precisely, says, “I’ve worked with TomTom data for 20 years. I’ve seen the content and coverage grow, and with it, the possibilities for Precisely to innovate our products.”

“The evolution in the way that TomTom collects and validates its data over that time, using new technologies, is great for us. Fresh, trusted data is core to Precisely’s data integrity suite, and we’re delighted to see TomTom’s data continue to improve in quality, content and coverage,” he adds.

With Precisely’s TomTom powered products, insurance companies better manage risk through improved knowledge of their properties; and retail campaigns are more targeted through a better understanding of customers.