Free space: Using open data for retail location analysis

This paper explains how 'open data' - data which is free to use, reuse and distribute - can be used in location planning for retail, using a case study from Oxfam, the UK charity.

Free space: Using open data for retail location analysis

Darren FleetwoodOxfam

Introduction – not just big but open

It will have been difficult for anyone working in market or social research in the last two to three years to have missed the term "big data". As Google Trends reflects (figure 1), since around 2011 there has been an explosive growth in interest in what large and varied datasets and increased computational power can tell us about the world and our organisations. These data have provided significant opportunities – the ability to estimate flu levels from web searches (Ginsberg, et...

Not a subscriber?

Schedule your live demo with our team today

WARC helps you to plan, create and deliver more effective marketing

  • Prove your case and back-up your idea

  • Get expert guidance on strategic challenges

  • Tackle current and emerging marketing themes

We’re long-term subscribers to WARC and it’s a tool we use extensively. We use it to source case studies and best practice for the purposes of internal training, as well as for putting persuasive cases to clients. In compiling a recent case for long-term, sustained investment in brand, we were able to support key marketing principles with numerous case studies sourced from WARC. It helped bring what could have been a relatively dry deck to life with recognisable brand successes from across a broad number of categories. It’s incredibly efficient to have such a wealth of insight in one place.

Insights Team
Bray Leino

You’re in good company

We work with 80% of Forbes' most valuable brands* and 80% of the world's top top-of-the-class agencies.

* Top 10 brands