Mapping Business Value

How geospatial services improve customer
experiences and operational efficiency

Introduction

Few technologies have become an essential part of everyday life as quickly as
geospatial services. The same technology behind the digital maps that remade
the way people shop, commute, and travel is having an enormous impact on
business operations and outcomes, influencing everything from logistics and tolocation expansion planning to customer service.

Q. Which of the following businessdecisions has your organization madeover the past three years to help carryout your strategic initiatives?
Invested in geospatial technologies
to create new customer experiences

55%
Invested in geospatial technologies
for our internal operations

50%
Invested in delivery and pick-up capabilities

40%
Increased shipping capabilities (e.g., fleet size)

40%
Increased our headcount38%
Invested in analytics capabilities

38%
Reduced our headcount15%

To better understand the impact of geospatialservices on business, operations, andcustomers, Oxford Economics worked with
Google Maps Platform to survey 1,000
executives in diverse industries and acrossmultiple countries. We found that geospatialservices enable enhanced visibility intobusiness operations that allows companies tomake better decisions and act faster at boththe operational and strategic levels.
The executives we surveyed see geospatialservices as an important tool that helps
them meet high-level goals like increasing
the quality of products or services andimproving operational efficiency—bothcited as priorities by more than half of ourrespondents (54% and 52%, respectively).
Customer-facing applications are the mostdeveloped area of geospatial investment,with over half of executives (57%) reportingsome implementation with early benefits,
and over one in five (22%) seeing heavy
implementation as part of a holistic

strategy. Internal operations also have seen
substantial investment—58% have seen someimplementation with early benefits—althoughfewer report heavy implementation within aholistic strategy (just 7%).
Most companies have already deployedinitiatives to improve the quality of theirproducts and services or to improve how they
operate in at least one area of the business.
So far, many executives have directed efforts
toward improving the quality of products
and services (87% have fully deployed aninitiative in at least some areas of the business),increasing speed to market (83%) and
improving operational efficiency (76%).
But for all the business value driven
by geospatial technologies, enormous
opportunities remain to be tapped. The
best-performing companies in our respondentgroup (see Sidebar: What Leaders do best)
have gained an early competitive advantage.
Other firms will have to join the mapping
revolution or be left behind.

Mapping Business Value | 2

Better customer experiences
Geospatial services help improve customer experiences and increase customer
loyalty. With customer and user experience a strategic priority for a substantial
number of companies (42% of respondents cite this as a key focus for the next
three years, and over three-quarters have acted on this imperative), it follows
that businesses are finding ways to leverage these capabilities as part of theirbroader customer initiatives. The link is explicit: Over half of respondents (55%)
have invested in geospatial technologies to create new customer experiences.
While integration of geospatial capabilities
is meaningful across the world, somecountries have emphasized customer-centric
applications more than others. For example,executives at Japanese (85%), UK, and Frenchorganizations (83% each) are most likely to say
they have implemented geospatial services tosome extent in customer-facing initiatives, but
US (71%) and Indian organizations (70%) areslightly less likely to have done so.
For experiences to shine, customers must beable to easily access information when theyneed it. The case for visibility across businessecosystems is universal, but different sectors
often have particular priorities and use cases.
One common denominator across industries,
however, is communicating information toincrease customer engagement; more thanhalf of all respondents in our survey (54%)

say they use geospatial services in this way
today, making it the most popular choice in thesurvey. And this usage pays off: Nearly threeout of four (73%) who use geospatial services
to communicate information see at least
moderate value from their decision.
They are also seeing moderate or significant
value from other widely targeted uses
including providing localized information on
proximity to business locations to help users
make decisions about where to shop, visit, orlive (57%); helping customers find and visit thenearest store, ATM, restaurant, auto shop, or
medical office, or other location/service (54%);
helping customers recognize and understandtheir transactions (51%); and simplifying
address entry to help users when they aresearching, signing up, or checking out (41%).

Mapping Business Value | 3

SIDEBAR:

What Leaders do best
We took a closer look at a subset of
respondents who are seeing the broadest
range of business benefits from geospatialservices. To qualify for this Leader group,companies must report strong performanceon at least four key metrics from our listof seven; whereas the average number ofbenefits reported by other respondents
was roughly 2.75. Leader organizations
tend to be larger in size—65% have at least$1 billion in annual revenue vs. 48% of thenon-Leader population—and more than
two in five operate in transportation andwarehousing, accommodation and foodservices, and wholesale or retail tradeindustries (41%). Leaders are distributed
relatively evenly across the world, but France(9% of Leader population), Indonesia (8%),
and Singapore (7%) are slightly less likely tomeet Leader criteria.

One common characteristic of Leader
organizations is a strong focus on building a
positive customer experience, including but
not limited to the use of geospatial services.
These companies are significantly more likely
than others to see at least a 15% boost acrossperformance metrics from their geospatial
investments than others in our survey group:
71% say geospatial services have created
new business opportunities, 62% say theyQ. For each of the following answer choices, please estimate (as a percentage) the extent towhich geospatial services influence the following business areas. | “15% or more” responses
New business opportunities

Optimized supply chain operations

71%

43%
Transactions per year

37%

43%

Increased productive capacity

67%

Customer retention

60%

Leader
Non-Leader

39%

65%

Increased operational efficiency*

46%

62%

58%

67%

* (e.g., fewer trips made for deliveries, optimized delivery loads)

Mapping Business Value | 4

SIDEBAR: WHAT LEADERS DO BEST(continued)

have improved customer retention, and60% say they have increased the number oftransactions per year. Geospatial services
are a key component in this success—andLeaders indicate these tools are essential forbuilding customer loyalty (85% vs. 73%).
Companies in our Leader group are slightly
more likely than others to have invested
in geospatial technologies to create newcustomer experiences (60% vs. 54%); more
likely to have at least some implementation
with early benefits for geospatial
investments aimed at customer-facing
operations (88% vs. 78% non-Leaders);
and more likely to say they have customercentric use cases for geospatial services.
Overall, Leaders are more likely to prioritize
improving customer experience (52% vs.

Characteristicsof Leaders41%), improving quality of products andservices (50% vs. 39%); and are much more
likely to have initiatives to improve customer
or user experience fully deployed across thebusiness (40% vs. 17%).
Perhaps these successes stem from theirdata practices. Leaders say their analytics
capabilities provide sufficient insight into
customer behavior (70% “somewhat” or“strongly” agree responses, vs 55% for
non-Leaders). They also excel at sharing data,
which includes communicating information
to increase customer engagement (67% vs.
53% of others), helping customers recognize
and understand their transactions (56% vs.
36%), and providing localized information to
help users understand what’s near a site sothey can make easier decisions about whereto shop, visit, or live (62% vs. 56%).

Greater
visibility into
operations

Greater
visibility into
customer
behaviors

Reducedoperatingcosts

Improved
operational
efficiency

IncreasedcustomeracquisitionIncreased
customer
retention

Increased
rate of repeat
business

Mapping Business Value | 5Improved internal operations
A fundamental rule of business is that you cannot manage what you cannotmeasure. A corollary for the geospatial age is that you cannot measure what
you cannot find. It makes sense, then, that exactly half of our respondents
already have made strategic investments in mapping technologies thatenhance internal operations over the past three years—even more than haveinvested in analytics (38%) or increased headcount (38%) for that purpose.
Nearly half say these services have helped optimize operations
further down the supply chain by at least 15% (45%).

Return on these investments is coming inacross a range of benefits. Over half (56%) say
geospatial services make their organization’s
processes and operations more efficient,while three out of five (62%) say visualizing
geospatial data helps them make better
decisions and improve operational efficiencies.
The ultimate goal of any investment is for it topositively affect how processes are carriedout and open pathways to new possibilities—
and with more than half of executives citing
process innovation as an investment outcome(55%), geospatial services are proving to be atransformative resource.

Many of these gains are substantial. Well overhalf of respondents (58%) directly credit theimplementation of geospatial services for
reducing the number of trips to make the same
number of deliveries/service appointments,and almost three out of five (59%) say theuse of geospatial services has increased
operational efficiency (e.g., in terms of fewer
trips made for deliveries, or optimized deliveryloads) by at least 15%. And these operationalbenefits are felt beyond the organizational
firewall: Nearly half say these services havehelped optimize operations further down thesupply chain by at least 15% (45%).

Mapping Business Value | 6SIDEBAR:

Geospatial services improve financial performance
Our analysis of the 2022 survey data
indicates a correlation between investment
in geospatial services and revenue growth,
profitability, and cost reduction. Because we
do not yet have data across multiple years, wecannot prove that these positive movements
are directly caused by investments in locationtechnologies—but the suggested relationshipis significant enough to note.
A majority of respondents have seen
revenue growth since first investing in
geospatial services. That growth could be

Q. In the three years after yourorganization made its firstinvestments in geospatialservices, what decrease inoperating costs did you realize
in each of the following areas?

explained by a lot of things, but over 40%
have also experienced an increase in theirrate of revenue growth since making theirfirst purchases, which suggests a possible
relationship between mapping services andtop-line growth.
The cost-reduction story is clearer. In thethree years after initial geospatial investments, many respondents saw expenditures
decrease in the following areas: customer
service, fleet size, labor hours per delivery,
labor hours per transaction, and fuel.

Changes in profitability are difficult toattribute to a particular cause because there
may be exogenous factors (e.g., cost of raw
materials or labor) and internal pressures tosmooth earnings from one quarter to thenext. Still, we saw that average profitability at
respondent companies increased from 6.3%
in the three years before initial geospatial
investments to 7.1% for three years after
these investments.

-18.5%-13.7%-12.9%

-9.2%

-4.2%

Customer
service

Fleet
size

Labor
hours perdeliveryLabor
hours pertransaction

Fuel

Mapping Business Value | 7Conclusion
Efforts to get the most out of geospatial services are a clear and consistent priority. The value these capabilities
provide are wide-reaching, and the various operational efficiency gains and contributions to the customer experience
combine to save money over time. And while there will be slightly different outcomes based on specific use cases,industry needs, and geographic situations, there is opportunity to leverage geospatial services in all types of work.

To get the most out of geospatial technologies, executives should consider the following:
Keep end user benefit of applications in mind. Geospatial technologies may be used
in internal ways, but the benefit must be passed on to those that utilize products andservices. Whether that comes in the form of financial benefits or improved experiences
is will depend on each application.

Find use cases that make sense. Geospatial capabilities can be used in many ways,
but they will not all make sense for every line of work. Work with staff at all levels of theorganization to figure out where geospatial help is most needed.

Invest in data analytics. Once geospatial services are implemented, the number of data
touchpoints the organization must address will increase significantly. It is up to you tomake sure the company is prepare for this influx of information—so establishing a strong
infrastructure and skilled workforce is of paramount importance.

Check out our Impact Calculator tofind out how geospatial services are
impacting businesses like yours.

Mapping Business Value | 8UnitedKingdom
15%

About the research
Google Maps Platform and Oxford Economics partnered to survey 1,000 executives
at organizations of varying sizes across countries and industries. The respondentbase is represented by organizations from eight countries, and all had at least $10m in
annual revenue.

Company size

For the purposes of this research, we grouped respondents into 14 industry clusters,
including accommodation and food services; real estate and rental and leasing;administrative and support and waste management and remediation services;finance and insurance; transportation and warehousing; wholesale and retail trade;manufacturing; arts, entertainment, and recreation; agriculture; professional, scientific,and technical services; non-profit; media and entertainment; telecommunications; andsoftware and internet.

Japan
15%

150 respondents

12%$10m–$49m

13%$50m–$99m

16%$100m–$499m

9%$500m–$999m25%$1b–$10b25%

More than $10b

150 respondents

France10%Singapore10%

100 respondents

100 respondents

United States
15%

Indonesia
10%150 respondents

Germany
15%

India
10%

150 respondents

100 respondents

100 respondents

About Oxford Economics

About Google Maps Platform

Oxford Economics is the world’s foremost independent economic advisory firm.
Covering over 200 countries, over 100 industrial sectors and 8,000 cities andregion, we provide insights and solutions that enable clients to make intelligent
and responsible business decisions faster in an increasingly complex anduncertain world. For more information, visit https://www.oxfordeconomics.com.

Google Maps Platform helps organizations and developers create better
experiences and improve operations through detailed geospatial data for morethan 250 countries and territories. Our rich mapping products and solutions help
everyone build with the familiar Google Maps interface used by more than a billion
users every month. For more information, visit https://mapsplatform.google.com.

Mapping Business Value
Copyright 2023 - Oxford Economics and Google Maps Platform. All rights reserved.

Published February 2023