Experian Launches ForSite Location-planning App

Global information services company Experian has unveiled ForSite, a location-planning iPhone app designed to instantly provide retail and network location planners, media agencies and media buyers, with a wealth of Experian data about a location and its catchment area, delivered straight to their smartphone. Experian says the app forms part of an ongoing strategy of deploying its data expertise through new channels, and will considerably improve and speed up location planning.

The app, designed by Mubaloo, enables planners to assess a trade area, based on distance or drive time criteria from any location point, whether that’s current location, a geo-tagged photograph, or a postcode or map selection. In addition to a topline overview on a given area – such as the number of households, average weekly household income and average weekly spend on retail – the app also provides a real-time report, providing a range of Experian insight, including detailed demographic data, Mosaic consumer insight, expenditure and income data, and the types and number of retailers already trading in the area. Experian says the app will save both time and money, by enabling planners to analyse potential sites in the field, without the need to return to the office.

“Effective location planning is an essential part of any company’s success,” says Nigel Wilson, managing director, Experian Marketing Information Services UK & Ireland. “Getting the location right can mean the difference between success and failure, especially in the tough trading conditions many businesses now face. Our ForSite App is the first of its kind, and will be crucial in empowering location planners with the data they need, speeding up the decision making process, and helping our clients to work more effectively.”

The app comes in a free, condensed version that is designed to make insight-based location planning accessible to smaller players. Businesses can download the free version an assess the app, before deciding whether to licensw the more detailed data content contained within it. Initially available for iOS, an Android version will follow soon.

Daran Hewitt, national location analysis manager for The Co-operative, says the app will “fundamentally change” the way location planning is conducted. “It will enable our location planners to make decisions about whether to progress or drop a potential site, accessing ForSite via their tablet PC, right there and then in the field, using the up to date and accurate data they expect from Experian,” he says. “We’re planning to open 300 new stores over the next three years, and so this streamlining of decision-making and speeding up of the location-finding process will be invaluable.”
ForSite is the second product in Experian’s suite of mobile location marketing tools to be launched in app form. Experian’s Mosaic app, launched in November 2010, has so far received over 2,000 downloads.