Blog – StraTopo

Retail Network Optimization for Pharmacies

Our next example of geo data use for retail network optimization is reachability calculations of pharmacies in cities.

Pharmacies play an important role in the quality of healthcare of citizens, and having them easily accessible is vital to people who rely on repeat prescriptions, have mobility issues, or are otherwise too unwell to travel.

New Pharmacy location

When planning a new pharmacy, you should take into account such factors as: Is it available to customers from their addresses within 15 minutes of walking? Where are your competitors located? Is it close to medical facilities? Pharmacies belong to ‘’essential retail’’ in a 15 Minute City.

Pharmacy importance during COVID-19

During the lockdown, people avoid direct contact with others. As an effect, they prefer to stay near their houses and treat themselves with medication available across the counter. This need will grow as EU-governments expand COVID-19 vaccines and tests to pharmacies.

Reachability analysis helps pharmacies choose the optimal locations for clients to pick up their vaccines. Result: clients’ travel times decrease dramatically, which reduces unnecessary movements in Covid times. Vaccines are distributed more easily and pharmacies are less likely to become overcrowded

Are you well connected to pharmacies? Which areas in Maastricht will have the easiest access to pharmacies in general?

Want to find out how StraTopo’s Routing Engine can provide analysis and help find optimal business locations within your city?

Get more insights by contacting StraTopo via the contact form or via email: info@stratopo.nl.

By geomaster|2021-01-19T09:33:37+01:00January 18th, 2021|Routing Engine|0 Comments

4 Benefits of Using Geo Data for Retail Network Optimization

Catchment areas of retail chains

Reachability insights can assist with both the commercial planning for retailers, as well as help city planners improve the liveability of their city. In this example, we looked at grocery stores in Maastricht.

With this data, you can easily interpolate the number of citizens closest to a specific supermarket or link other demographic data such as age or income

Business Location Opportunities

Defining the catchment areas of grocery stores helps chains identify opportunities for new attractive store locations and which locations are ineffective.

Market Research

Reachability insights can improve supermarket’s understanding of the client’s preferences based on their address.

Advertising

It also shows also show which areas should be focused on advertising and marketing campaigns (eg. flyers)

Liveability Level

From a citizen’s perspective, living near a grocery store makes life easier, especially for households on a tight schedule who may not have time to grocery shop more than once a week.

When supermarkets are far away, grocery shopping becomes more time-consuming as people must travel further. As a result, many people turn to less nutritional options such as convenience stores and fast-food. Close reachability to grocery stores has other advantages, such as a wider selection of food and lower prices of products.

The map shows the proximity of buildings to grocery stores in Maastricht. Based on this information, we can infer the clientele catchment area for various chains of grocery stores in Maastricht.Grocery stores usually have low density, and their catchment areas contain several neighborhoods, depending on the size of the city.

Do you want to gain more insights into services (and other facilities) accessibility in your city? Get in touch with StraTopo via our contact form or send an email to info@stratopo.nl

By geomaster|2021-01-17T17:46:44+01:00January 10th, 2021|Routing Engine|0 Comments

Childcare accessibility

Convenient access to childcare is crucial for many parents. StraTopo looked into this accessibility for Utrecht – a city recognized as one of the top 10 best Dutch cities to live in with children.

We found that 91% of buildings that have living units in Utrecht have a kindergarten within 15 minutes of walking.

Would you like to know how accessible childcare is in your area?

Reach out to us on info@stratopo.nl !

By geomaster|2021-01-06T11:23:55+01:00January 6th, 2021|Uncategorized|0 Comments

Data for Urban Logistics Deephack

Routing engine insights awarded first-prize in Hackathon!

StraTopo successfully participated in Ultrahack’s ‘Data for Urban Logistics’ Hackathon, organized by EIT Digital and Urban Radar. In this competition teams had to focus on creating new conceptual business models for how logistics and delivery companies can make more informed decisions. By doing so, businesses can improve their operations while reducing their impacts on congestion and gas emissions in cities.

Data Driven Decisions

We create algorithms that provide insights which are essential to make decisions towards a zero emission city logistic. Using the Routing Engine, our algorithm calculated the percentage of citizens of a city that can walk within 15 minutes to a package delivery point. This is a starting point for a framework of algorithms to expand on.

Example:

– Providing a heatmap showing the optimal location for introducing bike package delivery or locker placement.

– Calculating the effect on emission and liveability by introducing bike delivery, locker placement or replacing trucks with more environmental friendly vehicles.

Get in touch with s.reulen@stratopo.nl to find out how we can help you.

By geomaster|2020-12-09T10:19:24+01:00November 11th, 2020|Uncategorized|0 Comments

15 Minutes City

Are 15 Minutes Cities a real or unattainable idea?

The pandemic drastically changed how we utilize our cities. Ideally, we would like to surround ourselves with all essentials. This creates a ‘safe circle’, which both limits the spread of the virus, as well as provides convenience in times where travel becomes more risky and difficult.

However, as we delve into this topic, we can see that the concept became popular even before COVID-19. Paris city, and specifically its mayor, Anne Hidalgo was one of the first to propose this concept.

The 15 Minute City builds a cyclist and pedestrian friendly neighborhood. The ideal solution is a city in which work, home, education, healthcare and so on are all within a 15 minute reach. In essence this is about creating accessibility by walking or cycling to all locations of people’s daily needs and visits. It is a progressive and innovative idea, which can enhance the liveability of our cities.

The future implementation of the idea can reconnect people with their local areas and decentralize the life of the city and its services. Encouraging 15 Minute Cities will provide greater access for those who are unable to travel, help support local businesses, and provide a greater feeling of neighborhood connectivity.

15 Minute Cities would have a positive impact in most areas of life we care about:

environment

economy

society

transport

safety

This concept promotes cycling and walking instead of using cars. Undeniably, this is a great way to reduce CO2 emission. It is a hot topic that has become increasingly important lately.

Staying in your suburb supports the economy. Residents are shopping in their local stores, in this way contributing to local businesses. That is really empowering for small businesses which are located on quiet streets. Rent prices in the city centres shouldl decline and suburban rent will increase creating fair competition.

From a social perspective, 15 Minutes Cities also makes a positive impact. Having the necessary supplies around you allows you to stay in your neighborhood and build communities. People start to get to know their neighbors and join similar events in the area. This helps to provide a feeling of connectedness to where you live, and addresses social issues of loneliness and isolation.

Local transport is more efficient. 15 Minute Cities require less commuting time, allowing people to be more productive and have more free time. People use less buses/ cars because they do not have to travel as far. Fewer traffic jams make journeys better, safer and cheaper.

Staying within your local communities also provides safer cities. When a sense of community is developed, and locals know one another, you have more people who look out for you. Additionally, having people you know live close by is beneficial in cases when something goes wrong and you require help.

Could your zone be a 15 Minutes City?

By geomaster|2020-10-12T16:35:45+02:00October 9th, 2020|Uncategorized|0 Comments