Geo-Powered Retail Intelligence with Zoho Analytics

Geo-Powered Retail Intelligence with Zoho Analytics

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.

Business scenario

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.

Dataset Overview

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.

Problem Description

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.

Why Geo Maps Become a Game-Changer

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.

Solution Implementation – Report Creation

This section walks through the step-by-step creation of four key Geo Map reports that reveal business insights from store-level data.

1. Store Performance Analysis (Map – Bubble)

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

  1. From the dataset, click the Create icon and select Chart View.

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

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

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

  7. Under the Map tab, click Map control and enable Display Specific Country Map.
  8. 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.

  9. 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.


2. Revenue-to-Traffic Ratio with Ghost Zone Detection (Map - Filled + Scatter)

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

  1. From the dataset, click the Create icon and select Chart View.
  2. On the designer page, drag and drop the following columns into their respective shelves:
    1. State → X-Axis
    2. Foot Traffic (visitors/month) → Color
    3. Monthly Revenue (USD) → Text
    4. Marketing Spend (USD), Population Density (people/sq km), ROI (%) → Tooltip
  3. Click Generate Graph.

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

  5. Click the Settings icon, then click Legend.
  6. In the Colors section, assign from light to dark green colors for the below range of foot traffic:
    1. Below 5,000
    2. 5,000–10,000
    3. 10,000–15,000
    4. Above 15,000

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

  8. Toggle Enable Layers to add a second layer.

  9. 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.

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

  11. 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:
    1. Below 2,000
    2. 2,000-4,000
    3. 4,000-6,000
    4. 6,000-8,000
    5. 8,000-10000
    6. Above 10,000

  12. 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?

​

3. Competitor Pressure Zones (Map – Scatter)

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

  1. From the dataset, click the Create icon and select Chart View.
  2. In the chart designer, drag and drop the following columns into their respective shelves:
    1. Latitude → X-Axis
    2. Longitude → Y-Axis
    3. Competitors market share → Color
    4. Competitors nearby, Monthly Revenue, and Store Type → Tooltip
  3. Click Generate Graph.

  4. Click on the more option and select the chart type as Map-Scatter.
  5. In the Settings panel, adjust the color gradient to reflect pressure levels
    1. 0 → Green
    2. 1-30 → Cyan
    3. 30-60 → Orange
    4. 60-80 → Pale red
    5. Above 80 → Red

  6. Change the Marker type under Maps → Marker tab.

  7. Under the Map tab, change the map to Albers USA Projection.
  8. 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.

​

4. Customer Gender Distribution (Map - Pie)

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

  1. From the dataset, click the Create icon and select Chart View.
  2. In the chart designer, drag and drop the following columns into their respective shelves:
    1. Latitude → X-Axis
    2. Longitude, Male (%), Female (%) → Y-Axis
    3. City, Store ID, Average Customer Age, Store Type → Tooltip
  3. Click Generate Graph.

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

  6. 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.

  7. Add Store Type as User Filters to slice down store-wise gender distribution.
  8. 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.

​

Summary

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.

Click here to access the sample workspace.
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.

    • Sticky Posts

    • What's New in Zoho Analytics - November 2025

      We're thrilled to announce a significant update focused on expanding your data connectivity, enhancing visualization capabilities, and delivering a more powerful, intuitive, and performant analytics experience. Here’s a look at what’s new. Explore What's

    • What's New in Zoho Analytics - October 2025

      Hello Users! We're are back with a fresh set of updates and enhancements to make data analysis faster and more insightful. Take a quick look at what’s new and see how these updates can power up your reports and dashboards. Explore What's New! Extreme

    • What’s New in Zoho Analytics – September 2025

      Hello Users!! In this month’s update, we’re raising the bar across multiple touchpoints, from how you bring in data, plan and track projects to how you design and brand your dashboards. We’ve added the all-new Gantt chart for project visualization, expanded

    • Announcing Agentic AI - Ask Zia!

      We are delighted to roll out the new agentic AI capabilities in Ask Zia, where every stage of the BI workflow is assisted by AI. With a human-in-the-loop approach, Ask Zia ensures that you’re in command of the decision, while AI handles the complexity.

    • Invitation-Based User Access in Zoho Analytics

      Hello everyone, We’re rolling out an important update on how users are added to your Zoho Analytics Organization and Workspaces. Previously, when admins added users, they were automatically added to the organization. Moving forward, to improve security

    • Recent Topics

    • Free Webinar : Unlock AI driven business insights with Zoho Inventory + Zoho Analytics

      Are you tired of switching between apps and exporting data to build customized reports? Say hello to smarter & streamlined insights! Join us for this exclusive webinar where we explore the power of the Zoho Inventory–Zoho Analytics integration. Learn

    • Critical Issue: Tickets Opened for Zoho Support via the Zoho Help Portal Were Not Processed

      Hi everyone, We want to bring to your attention a serious issue we’ve experienced with the Zoho support Help Portal. For more than a week, tickets submitted directly via the Help Portal were not being handled at all. At the same time no alert was posted

    • Hide/Show Subform Fields On User Input

      Hello, Are there any future updates in Hide/Show Subform Fields "On User Input"?

    • Cloning Item With Images Or The Option With Images

      Hello, when I clone an item, I expect the images to carry over to the cloned item, however this is not the case in Inventory. Please make it possible for the images to get cloned or at least can we get a pop up asking if we want to clone the images as

    • Archiving Contacts

      How do I archive a list of contacts, or individual contacts?

    • WorkDrive and CRM not in sync

      1/ There is a CRM file upload field with WorkDrive file set as the source: 2/ Then the file is renamed in WorkDrive (outside CRM): 3/ The File in CRM is not synced after the change in WorkDrive; the file name (reference) in CRM record is not updated (here

    • Custom validation in CRM schema

      Validation rules in CRM layouts work nicely, good docs by @Kiran Karthik P https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/kb/crm/customize-crm-account/validation-rules/articles/create-validation-rules I'd prefer validating data input 'closer to the schema'

    • Adding Default Module Image into mail merge field

      As with most people finding their way to these forums i have a specific requirement that doesn't seem to be supported by Zoho I have created 2 custom modules to suit my purpose 1 is an inventory type module that lists aluminium extrusions, and all relevant

    • Sync Data from MA to CRM

      Currently, it's a one-way sync of data from the CRM to MA. I believe we should have the ability to select fields to sync from MA to the CRM. The lead score is a perfect example of this. In an ideal world we would be able to impact the lead score of a

    • Is it possible to roll up all Contact emails to the Account view?

      Is there a way to track all emails associated with an Account in one single view? Currently, email history is visible when opening an individual Contact record. However, since multiple Contacts are often associated with a single Account, it would be beneficial

    • Update CRM record action

      Currently, MA only offers a "Push Data" action to push data to a CRM module. This action is built to cover the need to both create a new record and update an existing record. Because it has been implemented this way all required fields on the CRM module

    • Notes badge as a quick action in the list view

      Hello all, We are introducing the Notes badge in the list view of all modules as a quick action you can perform for each record, in addition to the existing Activity badge. With this enhancement, users will have quick visibility into the notes associated

    • What's new in Zoho One 2025

      Greetings! We hope you have all had a chance by now to get hands-on with the new features and updates released as part of ZO25. Yes, we understand that you may have questions and feedback. To ensure you gain a comprehensive understanding of these updates,

    • Good news! Calendar in Zoho CRM gets a face lift

      Dear Customers, We are delighted to unveil the revamped calendar UI in Zoho CRM. With a complete visual overhaul aligned with CRM for Everyone, the calendar now offers a more intuitive and flexible scheduling experience. What’s new? Distinguish activities

    • Add deluge function to shorten URLs

      Zoho Social contains a nice feature to shorten URLs using zurl.co. It would be really helpful to have similar functionality in a Deluge call please, either as an inbuilt function or a standard integration. My Creator app sends an email with a personalised

    • Edit default "We are here to help you" text in chat SalesIQ widget

      Does anyone know how this text can be edited? I can't find it anywhere in settings. Thanks!

    • Quick way to add a field in Chat Window

      I want to add Company Field in chat window to lessen the irrelevant users in sending chat and set them in mind that we are dealing with companies. I request that it will be as easy as possible like just ticking it then typing the label then connecting

    • How to create a two way Sync with CRM Contacts Module?

      Newbie creator here (but not to Zoho CRM). I want to create an app that operates on a sub-set of CRM Contacts - only those with a specific tag. I want the app records to mirror the tagged contacts in CRM. I would like it to update when the Creator app

    • Zoho Sheet for Desktop

      Does Zoho plans to develop a Desktop version of Sheet that installs on the computer like was done with Writer?

    • Allow Manual Popup Canvas Size Control

      Hello Zoho PageSense Team, We hope you're doing well. We would like to request an enhancement to the PageSense popup editor regarding popup sizing. Current Limitation: Currently, the size (width and height) of a popup is strictly controlled by the selected

    • Where is the settings option in zoho writer?

      hi, my zoho writer on windows has menu fonts too large. where do i find the settings to change this option? my screen resolution is correct and other apps/softwares in windows have no issues. regards

    • How to set page defaults in zoho writer?

      hi, everytime i open the zoho writer i have to change the default page settings to - A4 from letter, margins to narrow and header and footer to 0. I cannot set this as default as that option is grayed out! so I am unable to click it. I saved the document

    • Develop and publish a Zoho Recruit extension on the marketplace

      Hi, I'd like to develop a new extension for Zoho Recruit. I've started to use Zoho Developers creating a Zoho CRM extension. But when I try to create a new extension here https://sigma.zoho.com/workspace/testtesttestest/apps/new I d'ont see the option of Zoho Recruit (only CRM, Desk, Projects...). I do see extensions for Zoho Recruit in the marketplace. How would I go about to create one if the option is not available in sigma ? Cheers, Rémi.

    • How to import data from PDF into Zoho Sheet

      I am looking to import Consolidated Account Statement (https://www.camsonline.com/Investors/Statements/Consolidated-Account-Statement) into zoho sheet. Any help is appreciated. The pdf is received as attachment in the email, this document is password

    • Zoho Projects Android app: Integration with Microsoft Intune

      Hello everyone! We’re excited to announce that Zoho Projects now integrates with Microsoft Intune, enabling enhanced security and enterprise app management. We have now added support for Microsoft Intune Mobile Application Management (MAM) policies through

    • Cant't update custom field when custom field is external lookup in Zoho Books

      Hello I use that : po = zoho.books.updateRecord("purchaseorders",XXXX,purchaseorder_id,updateCustomFieldseMap,"el_books_connection"); c_f_Map2 = Map(); c_f_Map2.put("label","EL ORDER ID"); c_f_Map2.put("value",el_order_id); c_f_List.add(c_f_Map2); updateCustomFieldseMap

    • Wrapping up 2025 on a high note: CRM Release Highlights of the year

      Dear Customers, 2025 was an eventful year for us at Zoho CRM. We’ve had releases of all sizes and impact, and we are excited to look back, break it down, and rediscover them with you! Before we rewind—we’d like to take a minute and sincerely thank you

    • About Zoneminder (CCTV) and Zoho People

      Hi team I would like to implement a CCTV service for our branches, with the aim of passively detecting both the entry and exit of personnel enrolled in Zoho Peeple, but my question is: It is possible to integrate Zoho People with Zoneminder, I understand

    • Introducing the Zoho Projects Learning Space

      Every product has its learning curve, and sometimes having a guided path makes the learning experience smoother. With that goal, we introduce a dedicated learning space for Zoho Projects, a platform where you can explore lessons, learn at your own pace,

    • Create CRM Deal from Books Quote and Auto Update Deal Stage

      I want to set up an automation where, whenever a Quote is created in Zoho Books, a Deal is automatically created in Zoho CRM with the Quote amount, customer details, and some custom fields from Zoho Books. Additionally, when the Sales Order is converted

    • How to show branch instead of org name on invoice template?

      Not sure why invoices are showing the org name not the branch name? I can insert the branch name using the ${ORGANIZATION.BRANCHNAME} placeholder, but then it isn't bold text anymore. Any other ideas?

    • Admin asked me for Backend Details when I wanted to verify my ZeptoMail Account

      Please provide the backend details where you will be adding the SMTP/API information of ZeptoMail Who knows what this means?

    • Unable to remove the “Automatically Assigned” territory from existing records

      Hello Zoho Community Team, We are currently using Territory Management in Zoho CRM and have encountered an issue with automatically assigned territories on Account records. Once any account is created the territory is assigned automatically, the Automatically

    • Kaizen #223 - File Manager in CRM Widget Using ZRC Methods

      Hello, CRM Wizards! Here is what we are improving this week with Kaizen. we will explore the new ZRC (Zoho Request Client) introduced in Widget SDK v1.5, and learn how to use it to build a Related List Widget that integrates with Zoho WorkDrive. It helps

    • Set connection link name from variable in invokeurl

      Hi, guys. How to set in parameter "connection" a variable, instead of a string. connectionLinkName = manager.get('connectionLinkName').toString(); response = invokeurl [ url :"https://www.googleapis.com/calendar/v3/freeBusy" type :POST parameters:requestParams.toString()

    • Possible to connect Zoho CRM's Sandbox with Zoho Creator's Sandbox?

      We are making some big changes on our CRM so we are testing it out in CRM's Sandbox. We also have a Zoho Creator app that we need to test. Is it possible to connect Zoho CRM's Sandbox to Zoho Creator's Sandbox so that I can perform those tests?

    • I Need Help Verifying Ownership of My Zoho Help Desk on Google Search Console

      I added my Zoho desk portal to Google Search Console, but since i do not have access to the html code of my theme, i could not verify ownership of my portal on Google search console. I want you to help me place the html code given to me from Google search

    • Timeline Tracker

      Hi Team, I am currently using Zoho Creator – Blueprint Workflows, and I would like to know if there is a way to track a timeline of the approval process within a Blueprint. Specifically, I am looking for details such as: Who submitted the record Who clicked

    • Primary / Other Billing Contacts

      If you add an additional contact to a Zoho Billing Customer record, and then mark this new contact as the primary contact, will both the new primary and old primary still receive notifications? Can you stop notifications from going to the additional contacts

    • Missing Import Options

      Hello, do I miss something or is there no space import option inside of this application? In ClickUp, you can import from every common application. We don't want to go through every page and export them one by one. That wastes time. We want to centralize

    • Next Page