by Brenda Wolfe

The latest update of Business Analyst Online released this week contains some much-anticipated features.  You can check out the full list of new features on the Business Analyst Online Resource Center, but here are a few highlights...

Comparison Reporting

New comparison reporting helps you to directly compare the market characteristics of multiple locations.  In addition to pre-supplied reports, you can also create and save custom comparison reports with variables of your choosing.  All reports are easily exported to Excel for further analysis.  View the how-to video to learn more.  

With Comparison Reporting, you can:

• Compare multiple trade areas.
• Compare sites to the geographies where they are located.
• Benchmark a successful site to see how other sites compare.
• Use average or median values for site comparison.
• View comparison charts and tables of popular income, population and housing variables.
• Create your own comparison report by choosing from hundreds of variables, then save your report for future comparisons.
• Export comparison reports to Excel.

Normalized (Percentage) Variables in Color-Coded Maps

You can choose to view variables as a percentage of the population in addition to the actual values.  This allows you to see where relatively large concentrations of a variable are present.  You can easily toggle between variable values and percentages--even after the map has been created.

Points over Color-Coded Maps

You can see how locations relate to demographics, consumer spending, and business data by importing them over color-coded maps.  This is a great way to uncover trends and patterns.  You can own custom symbols to represent the locations in ways meaningful to you.  For example, you could use different map symbols for different types of businesses in the market.

All-In-One PDF

You can access all of the reports in an order via an all-in-one PDF.  This makes viewing and sharing multiple reports easier.

Dates for Satellite Imagery

The Satellite imagery in Business Analyst Online is updated on a quarterly basis.  However, each image that comprises the satellite layer has a specific date for which the photo was taken.  Turning on the Image Dates toggle, under the Satellite map, will display the date for the imagery at the center of the map. You can query any location on the map to determine the date of the imagery.  

More Reports Added

The Dominant Tapestry Site Map, Site Details Map, Site Maps on Satellite Imagery and a Traffic Map - Close Up are now available.  The Dominant Tapestry Segment Map provides a color-coding of the dominant consumer segments in the marketplace. 

Stay tuned for more Business Analyst Online updates as they develop.

Cheers!