“This article is based on Quadrant’s eBook, POI Data 101 – Everything You Need to Know About Point-of-Interest Data. You can download it in full here.”
Point Of Interest (POI) data represents the location of a landmark or a building in the physical space through geographical coordinates. It has a significant role to play in connecting businesses with customers; for instance in collecting or delivery of packages, picking-up & dropping-off passengers using ride-sharing apps, and assessing competition if opening a new store branch.
The end-users use POI data to find accommodations, shopping places, transportation, and nearby emergency services. POI data equips relevant government bodies and enterprises in gleaning patterns & trends enabling them to make data-driven decisions.
Methods of generating POI data
Some of the most common POI data generation methods by businesses include data extraction from open sources, user-generated data on social media platforms, extracting data from government directories, and hiring/contracting a team for manually updating the company’s POI database.
Among the mentioned methods, data collection and verification by a dedicated team ensures an accurate and healthy stream of POI data. This method includes the use of a smartphone and a purpose-built app in which new locations are added & the existing ones are verified in real-time. The major challenges associated with other methods mentioned include inconsistency and inaccuracy in datasets as it is highly dependent on how actively and precisely is the data being gathered and updated by companies or government bodies disseminating such information.
Use of POI data in end-user industries
The use of POI data varies from one industry to another, but the most common application of POI data central to companies & government bodies includes mapping of competition, & in site selection.
For instance, in the retail industry, its major role lies in understanding market share, gauging information about the spending capacity of people living or working in a particular area, and in locating competition & demand; enabling them to make data-driven decisions about the opening of a new store or shutting down a non-performing store.
In the telecommunications sector, companies can understand the public needs in geographies where their stations can communicate, assess competition, and expand their customer base by building new infrastructure in areas in need.
The real estate sector, where apt site selection is of utmost importance, uses POI data to rent and sell properties by providing information of nearby schools, hospitals, restaurants, supermarkets, and emergency services, among other things. Its role has significantly increased post-pandemic, where the use of online platforms for the customers is not only limited to locating nearby amenities but also in virtually visiting the built infrastructure.
The application of POI data in marketing & advertising is concerned with optimizing OOH (Out-of-Home) advertising campaigns. Location-based advertisements have helped businesses in delivering adequate messages or notifications to customers, helping them build brand value & in strategizing marketing campaigns.
The public sector primarily uses POI data to accurately map areas of their responsibility. Accurate mapping is required for optimizing emergency services, public transport, and law enforcement among others. POI data help governments to understand what products and services people already have access to & what’s missing.
Other than site selection of bank branch & ATMs, and in competition & opportunity analysis, the finance sector uses POI data in the investigation of fraud behavior. The insurance sector is equipped to do risk assessments for businesses & develop an understanding of the type of businesses co-located with property brought up for insurance. These indicators help them in pricing insurance policies adequately.
Need of upgrading POI data in near real-time
For POI data to be relevant, it must be updated in real or at-least near real-time with changes happening in physical space. Its significance has tremendously increased post-pandemic with several businesses being closed and new ones being set-up. As per Oxxford Information Technology Ltd., by the end of the second quarter of 2020, around 1.85 million businesses in the U.S. alone were permanently closed or had temporarily suspended operations. This is a clear indication of 1.85 million obsolete POI’s and for businesses that rely on POI data, up-gradation of this dataset in real-time is a must.
