{"id":769903,"date":"2025-11-18T06:23:56","date_gmt":"2025-11-18T14:23:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?post_type=wherenext&p=769903"},"modified":"2025-12-12T11:48:06","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T19:48:06","slug":"nexttech-generative-ai-retail","status":"publish","type":"wherenext","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/nexttech-generative-ai-retail","title":{"rendered":"NextTech: Using Generative AI and GIS to Understand Business Performance"},"author":501,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","castos_file_data":"","podmotor_file_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[],"tags":[491682,471991,483792,1161],"department":[488812],"wherenext-category":[],"industry":[],"class_list":["post-769903","wherenext","type-wherenext","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-generative-ai","tag-market-analysis","tag-nexttech","tag-retail","department-emerging-technologies"],"acf":{"short_description":"A video demo shows how generative AI and spatial analytics give executives better insights.","pdf":{"host_remotely":false,"file":"","file_url":""},"flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"A retail chain noticed competitors opening stores in its markets. The head of sales asked: How is this impacting our store traffic?"},{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Left","content":"Snapshot<\/strong>: With generative AI, business execs can query data and receive strategy-shaping insights about competitors.","snippet":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"The answer sat in millions of data points tracking store visits by time and day. Finding it requires serious analytical power\u2014the kind that geographic information system<\/a> (GIS) technology provides, as shown in the video below.\r\n\r\nGeospatial analysis can process hundreds of weeks of visitor data and show exactly how foot traffic changed when competitors moved in.\r\n\r\nWith generative AI<\/a>, GIS puts this processing power in the hands of decision-makers. Business leaders can now ask these business performance questions themselves and get answers in seconds.\r\n

Developing a National Picture of Business Performance<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nThis video illustrates how spatial analytics surfaces insights about retail customer trends on a national scale, with help from Placer.ai data, straight from a search bar."},{"acf_fc_layout":"kaltura","video_id":"1_6nf7oayz","time":false,"start":0,"stop":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"In this scenario, the retail CFO prompts the system to map all the company\u2019s locations in Florida. Clicking on a store produces charts about its performance, including average visits by time of day and the number of unique visitors each week.\r\n\r\nNext, the executive searches for locations around the US that have at least ten competitors. A task that might have required hours of data gathering and manual analysis is resolved instantly. The dashboard maps the relevant locations along with the number of competitors and average visits per day, per store."},{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Right","content":"Related Read:<\/strong>\r\n\r\n\/\/ Spotting risk<\/a> with AI","snippet":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"To analyze another variable\u2014like the effect of partnerships with social media influencers\u2014the CFO asks to see stores where visits increased by at least 50 percent from February to March. Analyzing commonalities across the 30 stores that meet that criterion could indicate which marketing tactics are drawing customers.\r\n\r\nBehind the scenes, the GIS analytics engine crunches massive datasets, but executives see only a map\u2014and answers to their questions.\r\n

Getting the Edge in Competitive Analysis<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nTo understand how national trends are playing out on a local level, the CFO turns next to Salt Lake City, where two major competitors recently opened their doors."},{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Right","content":"Key factors in competitive analysis: <\/strong>\r\n