In today’s highly competitive retail landscape, data-driven decisions are no longer optional — they’re essential. While businesses collect vast volumes of data across regions, stores, and customer segments, the real value lies in how effectively this data is visualized and interpreted.
Geo Maps in Zoho Analytics bring location intelligence to the forefront of decision-making. With powerful spatial analytics capabilities, retail businesses can now visualize store performance, identify untapped opportunities, and track customer behavior trends with a simple glance at a map.
This solution demonstrates how Zoho Analytics' Geo Maps can be leveraged to solve real retail business problems, using a step-by-step approach grounded in a practical, ready-to-use dataset.
Imagine you're a retail chain operating hundreds of stores across the United States. Each store generates data—sales, visitor footfall, customer satisfaction, marketing spend—but these numbers alone don’t explain why some stores succeed while others under-perform.
Key challenges include:
- Identifying stores that are struggling before sales drop significantly.
- Understanding whether poor performance is due to location, low visibility, or intense competition.
- Evaluating which regions offer true expansion potential—and which are over-saturated.
With no visual correlation between location and business KPIs, many decisions remain reactive instead of proactive. This is where Geo Maps make all the difference—by transforming isolated data into contextual geographic insights.
To power this solution, we’ve created a comprehensive and realistic retail dataset that mirrors how actual store data behaves across geographies.
The dataset includes:
- Store-level performance data: revenue, average purchase value, and satisfaction.
- Customer insights: foot traffic, age, gender distribution.
- Market context: competitor presence and market share, population density, and economic growth rate.
- Geospatial data: zip code, city, state, latitude, and longitude of each store location.
Retail chains often operate on thin margins, and even minor under-performance at store level can have significant impacts across the organization. While dashboards provide revenue and performance trends, they often miss one critical dimension—geography.
Without geographic context, businesses face several recurring challenges:
- Underperforming stores go unnoticed until major losses occur.
- Ghost zones—areas with low store presence but high potential—remain unexplored.
- Marketing budgets get wasted in regions where returns are consistently low.
- Competitor pressure is misjudged due to lack of visibility on regional saturation.
- Store closures become reactive decisions, made after performance has already declined.
In short, data without location awareness leaves decision-makers blind to spatial trends and risks. Businesses need a smarter, more intuitive way to analyze store performance with geographical clarity—before it’s too late.
Geo Maps in Zoho Analytics address this gap by unlocking a visual layer of intelligence that traditional charts can’t offer.
Here’s what makes them a game-changer:
- Location-first insights: Instantly identify how store performance varies across the map - by city, state, or neighborhood.
- Visual correlation of multiple KPIs: Compare revenue, satisfaction, and foot traffic geographically to detect hidden patterns.
- Clutter-free, customizable visuals: Choose the right map type - bubble, filled, pie, or scatter - to match the data you want to analyze.
Unlike static dashboards, Geo Maps enable you to see the problem, context, and opportunity—all in one frame. Whether it's spotting trends, reallocating marketing spend, or planning expansion, this spatial layer puts decision-makers back in control.
This section walks through the step-by-step creation of four key Geo Map reports that reveal business insights from store-level data.
To identify how stores are performing across different regions in terms of revenue and customer satisfaction, using a clean, visual-first map representation.
This helps uncover:
- High-performing stores in key zones
- Underperforming regions needing intervention
- Patterns related to location-based store success
Why Map - Bubble?
The Map - Bubble chart is ideal for visualizing store-level metrics using geolocation.
- Size indicates magnitude (e.g., Monthly Revenue)
- Color indicates health or quality (e.g., Customer Satisfaction)
- Each store appears as a distinct bubble based on its lat/long.
Procedure
- From the dataset, click the Create icon and select Chart View.

- On the designer page, drag and drop the following columns into their respective shelves:
- Latitude → X-Axis
- Longitude → Y-Axis
- Customer Satisfaction (out of 10) → Color
- Monthly Revenue (USD) → Size
- Store ID, Store Type, City → Tooltip

- Click Generate Graph.
- Click on the ellipsis icon and select the chart type as Map - Bubble.

- Click the Settings icon, and under the General tab, click Legend.
- In the Colors section, customize the color scale from red to green to represent satisfaction ranges.

- Under the Map tab, click Map control and enable Display Specific Country Map.
- From the drop-down, select Albers USA Projection. This displays the USA map by placing Alaska and Hawaii below the mainland USA on a single map.

- Rename the report as Store Performance and click Save.
Tip:
Add a User filter such as Store type or State to analyze performance by segment.
This configuration creates a bubble for every store, sized by its revenue and colored by customer satisfaction — instantly showing how happy customers are in high- or low-revenue zones.

Key Insights
Large bubble + Red color - High revenue but poor satisfaction — risk of churn!

Small bubble + Green color - Low revenue but high satisfaction — possibly underserved

Large bubble + Green color - Healthy performers — consider replicating success

Small bubble + Red color - Low performers — review for possible closure or revamp.

Business Interpretation
This chart acts as a live performance map for executives and analysts. Instead of scanning through tables or KPIs, stakeholders can instantly spot outliers, prioritize investments, and plan corrective actions by just glancing at the map.
To evaluate how efficiently each state is converting foot traffic into store revenue — and more importantly, to identify high-footfall regions without store presence, often referred to as ghost zones.
This chart helps:
- Compare state-level foot traffic against actual revenue
- Spot underutilized or over-performing regions
- Discover untapped markets with high visitor potential but less to no physical stores
Why Map - Filled + Scatter?
- The Map - Filled chart provides a regional perspective of traffic density and revenue generation.
- The Scatter layer overlays actual store locations based on latitude and longitude.
This powerful combo allows you to measure performance where you’re active and spot opportunities where you're not.
Procedure
- From the dataset, click the Create icon and select Chart View.
- On the designer page, drag and drop the following columns into their respective shelves:
- State → X-Axis
- Foot Traffic (visitors/month) → Color
- Monthly Revenue (USD) → Text
- Marketing Spend (USD), Population Density (people/sq km), ROI (%) → Tooltip
- Click Generate Graph.

- Click on more option and select the chart type as Map-Filled.

- Click the Settings icon, then click Legend.
- In the Colors section, assign from light to dark green colors for the below range of foot traffic:
- Below 5,000
- 5,000–10,000
- 10,000–15,000
- Above 15,000

- Under the Map tab, change the map to Albers USA Projection.
This filled layer highlights traffic and revenue across states.

- Toggle Enable Layers to add a second layer.

- In the new layer, drag and drop Latitude and Longitude into the X-Axis and Y-Axis respectively, Population density into the Color shelf, and click Generate Graph.

- Click Layer Controls, select Chart Chooser besides Latitude and choose the map as Map - Scatter from the list.

- To customize the second layer, go to Settings → Map → Latitude → Legend, and assign from light to dark red colors for the below range of population density:
- Below 2,000
- 2,000-4,000
- 4,000-6,000
- 6,000-8,000
- 8,000-10000
- Above 10,000

- Rename the report as Revenue-to-Traffic Ratio with Ghost Zone Detection and click Save.
This scatter layer marks the exact store locations, allowing visual correlation with high-traffic regions, revenue, and population density.
Key Insights
Dark green filled (high traffic) + Low revenue - Poor conversion - evaluate strategy or in-store experience

Mid to Dark green filled (high to mid traffic) + balanced revenue - Efficient zones — consider scaling efforts

Light green filled (low traffic) + high marketing spend (from tooltip) - Budget drain — reduce spend or re-evaluate targeting

Dark red marker (high population density) + less to no store markers - Ghost Zones — high opportunity areas for expansion

Example: In Las Vegas from Nevada, with a population density of 10,428 people/sq km and only two stores handling 10K–15K visitors/month, monthly revenue of the state remains modest at ~$278K. This indicates a high-opportunity zone for expansion, with strong footfall but untapped revenue potential.
Interpretation & Use
This map is designed for marketing and expansion teams who need to:
- Justify where to open new stores
- Optimize existing resource allocation
It visually answers the question:
Are we generating revenue where people are actually showing up?
Also, with the scatter layer:
Where are we not present — but should be?
To evaluate how store performance is impacted by nearby competition, using a scatter map that plots every store across the U.S. and reflects competitor market share through color intensity.
This view helps:
- Detect locations under competitive stress
- Identify high-risk zones where your market share is at risk
- Correlate competitor presence with satisfaction and store performance
Why Map - Scatter?
Map - Scatter offers a clean and lightweight visual that plots each store based on its exact coordinates. By encoding competitor market share as color and overlaying other attributes via tooltip, this chart becomes a competitive pressure radar.
Procedure
- From the dataset, click the Create icon and select Chart View.
- In the chart designer, drag and drop the following columns into their respective shelves:
- Latitude → X-Axis
- Longitude → Y-Axis
- Competitors market share → Color
- Competitors nearby, Monthly Revenue, and Store Type → Tooltip
- Click Generate Graph.

- Click on the more option and select the chart type as Map-Scatter.
- In the Settings panel, adjust the color gradient to reflect pressure levels
- 0 → Green
- 1-30 → Cyan
- 30-60 → Orange
- 60-80 → Pale red
- Above 80 → Red

- Change the Marker type under Maps → Marker tab.

- Under the Map tab, change the map to Albers USA Projection.
- Rename the report as Competitor Pressure Zones and click Save.
The resulting chart uses color to signal competitive heat around each store, allowing you to scan pressure zones across all regions visually.

Key Insights
Red (80-100%) - High competitor dominance — urgent intervention zone

Orange (30-60%) + low revenue - Growing pressure — performance risk emerging

Green (0%) + strong revenue - Market leader — low competition, strong position

Cyan (1-30%) + moderate revenue - Mild competition — possible opportunity to scale further

Business Interpretation
This chart empowers regional and strategy teams to:
- Detect overcrowded areas where stores are losing share
- Identify safe zones where your brand leads the market
- Spot emerging competitor influence before it cuts into your margins
It acts as a competitive intelligence dashboard, mapping how your store network stands against external threats.
To visualize how the gender distribution of customers varies across store locations. This helps identify stores with significant demographic skews, allowing for more personalized marketing, product selection, and in-store experience.
Why Map - Pie?
The Map - Pie chart is ideal for visualizing data composition across geographical locations.By breaking down each store’s customer base into Male (%) and Female (%) segments, this chart reveals who your customers are and where gender-targeted strategies might work best.
Procedure
- From the dataset, click the Create icon and select Chart View.
- In the chart designer, drag and drop the following columns into their respective shelves:
- Latitude → X-Axis
- Longitude, Male (%), Female (%) → Y-Axis
- City, Store ID, Average Customer Age, Store Type → Tooltip
- Click Generate Graph.

- In Settings, under the Map tab, change the map to Albers USA Projection.
- Click on Markers, adjust the Marker Size as shown.

- Click on Data Label, and enable the Show corresponding Y axis value as data label on the chart to display the percentage values on the map.

- Add Store Type as User Filters to slice down store-wise gender distribution.
- Rename the report as Customer Gender Distribution and click Save.
Each store will now display a pie chart representing the gender split among its customers, directly on the map.
Key Insights
Uneven gender split (e.g., 70% Male) - Potential to tailor offerings, branding, or promotions for the dominant gender

Balanced split (≈50/50) - Opportunity to run inclusive or diversified campaigns

High female ratio + specialty store - Indicates demand for niche products — expand category offerings

Business Interpretation
This chart allows marketing and merchandising teams to:
- Understand gender-based customer clustering across regions
- Launch targeted campaigns (e.g., loyalty programs, promotions)
- Refine product assortments to suit local preferences
For example: A store with 70% female shoppers may benefit from deeper investment in lifestyle categories, while a balanced store could serve as a testing ground for unisex offerings.
In this phase, we laid the foundation for geo-powered retail intelligence using Zoho Analytics. Through a single, well-structured dataset and four powerful geo map visualizations, we transformed raw store data into real, actionable business insights.
Here’s what we achieved:
|
Report
|
Business Insights
|
|
Store Performance (Bubble)
|
Identified stores that are over performing or at churn risk based on revenue and satisfaction.
|
|
Revenue-to-Traffic Ratio (Filled + Scatter)
|
Detected ghost zones and optimized marketing ROI by comparing traffic and revenue.
|
|
Competitor Pressure Zones (Scatter)
|
Mapped out competitor dominance and spotted at-risk or saturated regions.
|
|
Customer Gender Distribution (Pie)
|
Uncovered demographic patterns to tailor product, marketing, and in-store experience.
|
These visualizations brought spatial awareness into every performance metric — turning maps into a strategic business tool.
And this... is just the beginning.
Stay tuned for Phase 2 — where Multi-Layer Geo Maps and Network Charts come together to supercharge your business strategy with even deeper spatial insights.
Recent Topics
Unable to Receive Emails on Zoho Mail After Office 365 Coexistence Setup – Error: 553 Relaying Disallowed
Hello, My domain name is bigniter.com, and I’ve been using Zoho Mail as my email service provider without any issues. Recently, I followed the steps outlined in the Zoho documentation to enable Coexistence with Office 365: 🔗 https://www.zoho.com/mail/help/adminconsole/coexistence-with-office365.html#multi-server
CRM Related list table in Zoho analytics
In Zoho Analytics, where can I view the tables created from zoho crm related lists? For example, in my Zoho CRM setup, I have added the Product module as a related list in the Lead module, and also the Lead module as a related list in the Product module.
Candidate Registration/Invitation
It would be great to include the 'invite' candidate functionality into some of the automation functions - ether through a custom function trigger or webhook or accessible through an email template. Currently there is no way to add this functionality into any workflows or blueprint steps which, I find limits the ability to invite candidates to engage with us directly through our candidate portal.
[Free Webinar] Learning Table Series - Creator for Infrastructure Management | A Partner-driven collaborative session
Hello Everyone! We’re excited to invite you to another edition of Learning Table Series, where we showcase how Zoho Creator empowers industries with innovative and automated solutions. About the Learning Table Series The Learning Table Series is a free,
Where we can change the icon in social preview
Hi, we changed our logo, and the image that appear in preview (ex : when we post a appointment link somewhere) is still our old logo. I did change our logo in the org setting. https://bookings.zoho.com/app/#/home/dashboard/settings/basic-info?clview=false
I have error AS101 when I try to add paypal@mydomain.com to Zoho
Please help me with this. I tried to call the help line 4 times but don't get any response.
VAT on Multiple Expenses
Firstly, might I say I am based in Ireland, and I'm not an accountant, and therefore my understanding of procedures could be somewhat limited. Scenario. An employee pays for items throughout a month, and therefore their claim for expenses includes multiple items - some of the items are VAT deductible (eg, an IT product) and some are not (eg, a client lunch). Discovery The odd thing in ZBooks, is that whilst it seems possible to add a VAT rate to a one-off item of expense, it is not possible to add
Agent assignment filter?
Godo day, We are starting to play with FSM to see if it's going to work for our needs. Now so far we have found that it's very restrcitve in the field department you you have layout rules or can't even hide fields depending on the users roles. We can't
DKIM Now Mandatory - Changes to Zoho Forms Email Policies
Hello Zoho Forms Users, This post is to inform you about an important update regarding the authentication of all email domains in your Zoho Forms account. This year, we are doubling down on our commitment to deliver a secure, seamless, and empowering
is it possible to add more than one Whatsapp Phone Number to be integrated to Zoho CRM?
so I have successfully added one Whatsapp number like this from this User Interface it seems I can't add a new Whatsapp Number. I need to add a new Whatsapp Number so I can control the lead assignment if a chat sent to Whatsapp Phone Number 1 then assign
Kiosk Page Refresh
We have a Kiosk running from a button in contacts to update values and also add related lists, which works great, but when the kiosk is finished the page does not refresh to show the changes. Is there a way to force the contact to refresh/update when
Tips & tricks: Make SalesIQ automations work for you
Every day, thousands of visitors land on your website. Some browse, some buy, and some leave without a word. But, wouldn’t it be great if you could automatically know who’s interested, engage them at the right moment, and never miss a lead, and all this
Add Custom Reports To Dashboard or Home Tab
Hi there, I think it would be great to be able to add our custom reports to the Home Tab or Dashboards. Thanks! Chad
Digest Octobre - Un résumé de ce qui s'est passé le mois dernier sur Community
Chers utilisateurs, Faisons le point sur les temps forts du mois d'octobre au sein de notre Community Zoho France. Partager des informations sensibles, comme des mots de passe, peut vite devenir compliqué et risqué. Les données circulent par email ou
How do I fully delete a user account
Hi, I have two old accounts on my CRM which are inactive and show as 'Closed' in the list of users. BUT they are basically still there. How do I fully delete these accounts? They appear in some parts of CRM still such as the on the contact record emails
Automatically Add Recurring Zoho Meeting Events to Zoho Calendar / Zoho Meeting Calendar
Hello Zoho Meeting Team, Hope you are doing well. We would like to request an enhancement regarding recurring meetings created inside Zoho Meeting. At the moment, when we schedule a recurring meeting in Zoho Meeting, it does not appear in Zoho Calendar
Credit Management: #6 Tackling Common Mistakes in Credit Based Billing
Businesses extend credit to build relationships, make buying easy, and drive more sales. But somewhere between extending and collecting, things begin to slip. A few late payments here and there, an overlooked invoice, and a backlog make cash flow feel
Tasks Statuses
Hi, The task status "Completed" is a final status which closes the task. We need to have a status "Cancelled". However, when the status is set to "Cancelled", the task prompt still has a blue button to Close Task. When the customer clicks that and closes
Updating Blueprint stage from my Deluge function
Hi all, I need to update the blueprint stage. Its almost working, but ONLY if the current Deal stage is 'Closed Lost'. On any of my custom stages that Ive specified in the pipeline it doesnt work! My code: dealmap = Map(); deal_stage = deal.get("Stage");
Canvas: is it possible to have a fixed header?
Hello. Does Canvas provide the option to have a fixed header, similar to the standard view? It would also be interesting for other parts of the interface, like the header or sidebar of the tab section. Thanks!
Limited layout rules in a module
There is a limit of 10 layout rules per module. Is there a way to get that functionality through different customization or workflow + custom function (easily accessible), etc. Having just 10 is limiting especially if module contains a lot of data. Are
Introducing Lead Capture: Empower exhibitors to capture leads effortlessly
Events provide a great opportunity for exhibitors to generate awareness and engage with potential customers. Efficiently distributing attendee information to exhibitors through a seamless and secure way is of paramount importance. Introducing Lead Capture
dealing with post dated cheques
Hi, can you help me please the best way to deal with this We sell an item of three months duration that is paid for with post dated cheques in monthly stages example - item is sold £3000 Cheque 1 is for £1000 due at time of sale (say Sept) cheque 2 is dated 25th of next month (Oct) cheque 3 is dated 25th of next month +1 (Nov) Now, with invoice number one it's simple - i send a standard invoice as usual But with the other two here's what i want zoho to do next month i want it to send an invoice on
Using Contains as a filter
We are using Zoho Reports, ServiceDesk Plus analytics. I do not see how to create a report filter using Contains comparison of a string values, is one string contained in another. For example, Task Title contains the word Monitor. Is this possible in Zoho Reports? This reporting feature is available in SDP reporting. Thanks in advance, Craig Rice
Mass import of documents into Zoho Writer
I'm using Google's word processor at the moment but feel that Zoho does a better job (on the online apps market). Iwant to move my documents (about 50-70) to Zoho but it seems to me that I have to import them seperately. Is it already possible to upload several documents at a time or is this a forthcoming feature? Cheers Rolli :?:
Error 400 Booking
Added a custom domain to Booking. Am Getting a SSL Error that has some other domain on the SSL and giving a 400 error. Followed instructions and it stated it verified our domain.. However it is not working. Please Help!
Set off Unearned Revenue
Hi, I would like to get a clarification on the below. I have an opening balance of BD.725/- in my Unearned Revenue A/c which includes the overpayments of 6 clients. No One of my clients settled his invoices by paying the value of the invoice less the
How Zoho Desk contributes to the art of savings
Remember the first time your grandmother gave you cash for a birthday or New Year's gift, Christmas gift, or any special day? You probably tucked that money safely into a piggy bank, waiting for the day you could buy something precious or something you
Add Webhook Response Module to Zoho Flow
Hi Zoho Flow Team, We’d like to request a Webhook Response capability for Zoho Flow that can return a dynamic, computed reply to the original webhook caller after / during the flow runs. What exists today Zoho Flow’s webhook trigger can send custom acknowledgements
When moments in customer support get "spooky"
It’s Halloween again! Halloween is celebrated with spooky symbols and meanings based on history and traditions, with each region adding its own special touch. While we were kids, we would dress up in costumes along with friends, attend parties, and enjoy
How can I delete duplicate transactions?
I want to delete the duplicates not simply exclude them. I have duplicates, because I had automatic bank feeds turned on (had to make sure this critical functionality was working before migrating to Zoho). Now when I import my csv's exported from Wave,
Python - code studio
Hi, I see the code studio is "coming soon". We have some files that will require some more complex transformation, is this feature far off? It appears to have been released in Zoho Analytics already
Multiple email addresses
Multiple email addresses: I understand there is the ability to add an additional email field to a contact, but the functionality here needs to be drastically revised. Currently, this second email address does not log under the contact email history, nor is it available as a send address when using the Send Mail button within CRM. We recently migrated from GoldMine. I hate GoldMine, but there is one thing they did well: Email. I suggest copying them. Change the email field to an editable picklist,
ViewID and Zoho Desk API
I'm looking at the documentation for Listing contacts and it looks like you can filter by ViewID. I assume this is views created in a department or all departments. Is this correct? And if so, how do I find the ViewID for that view? EDIT: I see the view
Ability to Link Reported Issues from Zoho Desk to Specific Tasks or Subtasks in Zoho Projects
Hi Zoho Desk Team, Hope you're doing well. When reporting a bug from Zoho Desk to Zoho Projects, we’ve noticed that it’s currently not possible to select an existing task or subtask to associate the issue with. However, when working directly inside Zoho
Print Tickets
We have field engineers who visit customers. We would like the option to print a job sheet with full details of the job and account/contact details.
Zoho Desk integration with Power BI
Hi, I want to be able to create a Power BI report which has live updates of ticket data from zoho desk, is this possile at all? Thanks Jack
Ability to Attach Images When Reporting Issues to Zoho Projects from Zoho Desk
Hi Zoho Desk Team, Hope you’re doing well. We’re using the Zoho Desk–Zoho Projects integration to report bugs directly from support tickets into the Zoho Projects issue tracker. This integration is extremely useful and helps us maintain smooth coordination
Ability to Choose Task List and Add Subtasks When Creating Tasks from Zoho Desk
Hi Zoho Desk Team, Hope you’re doing well. We’re using the Zoho Desk–Zoho Projects integration to seamlessly connect customer tickets with project tasks. While the integration works great overall, we noticed two important limitations that affect our workflow
Sync Task Status from Zoho Projects to Zoho Desk
Hi Zoho Desk Team, Hope you’re doing well. We’re actively using the Zoho Desk–Zoho Projects integration, which helps our support and project teams stay aligned. However, we noticed that when we change a task’s status in Zoho Projects, the change is not
Next Page