{"id":771856,"date":"2026-03-03T06:26:03","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T14:26:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?post_type=wherenext&p=771856"},"modified":"2026-03-03T06:26:03","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T14:26:03","slug":"emerging-markets","status":"publish","type":"wherenext","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/emerging-markets","title":{"rendered":"Avoiding the Hidden Risks of Emerging Markets"},"author":501,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","castos_file_data":"","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":[200462,278392,493397,276882,493396],"department":[476812],"wherenext-category":[],"industry":[],"class_list":["post-771856","wherenext","type-wherenext","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-business-strategy","tag-customer-analytics","tag-emerging-markets","tag-location-analysis","tag-site-selection-and-market-planning","department-business-growth"],"acf":{"short_description":"A data-first, location-centric analysis of emerging markets paid off for two companies expanding well beyond traditional strongholds. ","pdf":{"host_remotely":false,"file":"","file_url":""},"flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"Emerging markets tempt businesses with strong growth potential and untapped customer bases. But these high-reward opportunities can also be high risk, as developing economies are notoriously unpredictable."},{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Left","content":"Snapshot:<\/strong> Companies that have succeeded in emerging markets have learned to adjust tried-and-true strategies. Their use of location analysis offers valuable clues on how to proceed.","snippet":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"By asking the right questions, decision-makers can avoid some of that uncertainty, according to Harvard Business Review<\/em><\/a>. The key is getting to know local factors like culture, spending power, workforce education, and infrastructure. These insights are a form of location intelligence<\/a>: information gained by mapping and analyzing geographic data such as demographics, consumer spending, and transportation networks. With location intelligence, businesses tailor expansion plans and align expectations with reality to more confidently enter emerging markets.\r\n

Shifting into Emerging Markets <\/strong><\/h3>\r\nLocation analysis has always been key to strategic growth. Expanding businesses analyze their most successful locations and seek out markets with similar populations and customer profiles. But emerging markets require a change in perspective: understanding not what\u2019s similar, but what\u2019s different.\r\n\r\nWhen a Mexico-based convenience store chain<\/a> sought to expand into South America, for example, executives knew their top-performing stores in Mexico wouldn\u2019t be a perfect template. Instead, they looked closely at the variables contributing to their success\u2014like commute times, car ownership, and customer shopping habits\u2014and examined how those factors differed in target countries. Then, they shifted their plans for store locations, operating hours, and product lineups accordingly.\r\n\r\nAdding geographic data ensured a strategy grounded in reality, not guesswork. This approach is especially valuable for companies expanding without firsthand knowledge of their target markets. A data-enriched map created with geographic information system (GIS) technology can answer questions about customer demographics, shopping norms, and labor markets.\r\n

AI and Automation Turn Maps into Momentum<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nThe risks of entering emerging markets don\u2019t disappear once the new locations open. Even well-informed businesses contend with shifting conditions and unexpected setbacks. Maps can show what\u2019s happening now\u2014and what could happen next, minimizing late reactions to market changes.\r\n\r\nThe automation and AI capabilities in modern location technology make this possible. Real-time data feeds automatically update maps with performance information like store foot traffic and inventory, adding insights to data on populations and local purchasing power. With up-to-date information about what\u2019s working at new locations, businesses can keep pace with consumer tastes.\r\n\r\nFor a look ahead, analysts can apply predictive AI algorithms to forecast business performance months or years into the future. Maps can show predicted sales alongside economic and population growth, illustrating how emerging markets might mature. These modeled scenarios guide decision-makers as they plan beyond market entry for sustained success.\r\n

A Competitive Edge in Emerging Markets <\/strong><\/h3>\r\nEmerging markets promise growth but demand precision. Location intelligence delivers the clear, realistic view that leaders need to plan and execute targeted growth.\r\n\r\nIt\u2019s allowed one quick-service restaurant<\/a> to outpace major players in a new region, with minimal store closures. Company executives knew what their competitors didn\u2019t: that mapping key data reveals opportunities and risks traditional analytics miss. In the words of the company\u2019s chief development officer, \u201cIf you talk about new stores opening, then location analysis is of the utmost importance.\u201d\r\n\r\nThrough location analysis, companies learn what it takes to achieve the benefits of smart, sustainable expansion into unfamiliar markets."}],"references":null},"yoast_head":"\nEmerging Markets and the Challenge of Business Planning<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Succeeding in emerging markets isn\u2019t as simple as following the playbook that worked in other regions. Two companies shed light on what must change.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/emerging-markets\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Avoiding the Hidden Risks of Emerging Markets\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Succeeding in emerging markets isn\u2019t as simple as following the playbook that worked in other regions. Two companies shed light on what must change.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/emerging-markets\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Esri\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/esrigis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2026\/03\/avoiding-hidden-risks-of-emerging-markets-wherenext-card-826x465-1.jpg\" \/><meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2026\/03\/avoiding-hidden-risks-of-emerging-markets-wherenext-card-826x465-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Esri\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t \"@context\": \"https:\/\/schema.org\",\n\t \"@graph\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/emerging-markets\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/emerging-markets\",\n\t \"name\": \"Emerging Markets and the Challenge of Business Planning\",\n\t \"isPartOf\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#website\"\n\t },\n\t \"datePublished\": \"2026-03-03T14:26:03+00:00\",\n\t \"description\": \"Succeeding in emerging markets isn\u2019t as simple as following the playbook that worked in other regions. Two companies shed light on what must change.\",\n\t \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/emerging-markets#breadcrumb\"\n\t },\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"potentialAction\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t \"target\": [\n\t \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/emerging-markets\"\n\t ]\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/emerging-markets#breadcrumb\",\n\t \"itemListElement\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t \"position\": 1,\n\t \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t \"item\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t \"position\": 2,\n\t \"name\": \"Avoiding the Hidden Risks of Emerging Markets\"\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#website\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/\",\n\t \"name\": \"Esri\",\n\t \"description\": \"Esri Newsroom\",\n\t \"potentialAction\": [\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t \"target\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t },\n\t \"query-input\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t }\n\t }\n\t ],\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t },\n\t {\n\t \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/b890389919572d29641d24fc67eaf376\",\n\t \"name\": \"Chris Chiappinelli\",\n\t \"image\": {\n\t \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t \"@id\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\n\t \"url\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Esri-Chris_Chiappinelli_540x540.jpg\",\n\t \"contentUrl\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Esri-Chris_Chiappinelli_540x540.jpg\",\n\t \"caption\": \"Chris Chiappinelli\"\n\t },\n\t \"description\": \"Chris Chiappinelli is the editor of Esri\u2019s WhereNext magazine. Through his writing, he explores the intersection of business strategy and location intelligence\u2014and strategic challenges like sustainability, growth, and risk. Prior to joining Esri, Chris managed internal content for PTC, a pioneer in IoT technology, smart products, and augmented reality. Earlier in his career, Chris spent a decade as a journalist covering business and technology news.\",\n\t \"sameAs\": [\n\t \"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/chris-chiappinelli-ba56814\",\n\t \"https:\/\/x.com\/chrischip\"\n\t ],\n\t \"url\": \"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/author\/cchiappinelli\"\n\t }\n\t ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Emerging Markets and the Challenge of Business Planning","description":"Succeeding in emerging markets isn\u2019t as simple as following the playbook that worked in other regions. Two companies shed light on what must change.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/emerging-markets","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Avoiding the Hidden Risks of Emerging Markets","og_description":"Succeeding in emerging markets isn\u2019t as simple as following the playbook that worked in other regions. Two companies shed light on what must change.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/emerging-markets","og_site_name":"Esri","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/esrigis\/","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2026\/03\/avoiding-hidden-risks-of-emerging-markets-wherenext-card-826x465-1.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""},{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2026\/03\/avoiding-hidden-risks-of-emerging-markets-wherenext-card-826x465-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@Esri","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/emerging-markets","url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/emerging-markets","name":"Emerging Markets and the Challenge of Business Planning","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-03-03T14:26:03+00:00","description":"Succeeding in emerging markets isn\u2019t as simple as following the playbook that worked in other regions. Two companies shed light on what must change.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/emerging-markets#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/emerging-markets"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/emerging-markets#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Avoiding the Hidden Risks of Emerging Markets"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/","name":"Esri","description":"Esri Newsroom","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/b890389919572d29641d24fc67eaf376","name":"Chris Chiappinelli","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Esri-Chris_Chiappinelli_540x540.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/app\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Esri-Chris_Chiappinelli_540x540.jpg","caption":"Chris Chiappinelli"},"description":"Chris Chiappinelli is the editor of Esri\u2019s WhereNext magazine. Through his writing, he explores the intersection of business strategy and location intelligence\u2014and strategic challenges like sustainability, growth, and risk. Prior to joining Esri, Chris managed internal content for PTC, a pioneer in IoT technology, smart products, and augmented reality. Earlier in his career, Chris spent a decade as a journalist covering business and technology news.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/chris-chiappinelli-ba56814","https:\/\/x.com\/chrischip"],"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/author\/cchiappinelli"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wherenext\/771856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wherenext"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/wherenext"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/501"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wherenext\/771856\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=771856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=771856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=771856"},{"taxonomy":"department","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/department?post=771856"},{"taxonomy":"wherenext-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wherenext-category?post=771856"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=771856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}