Introduction
POI (Point of Interest) data is information about specific locations of interest to a company or a customer. Examples of POI data include retail shops, dining establishments, health care facilities, financial institutions, and entertainment venues. Based on field research, 85% of companies use POI data to determine where to focus when making business development, marketing, and customer retention decisions.
POI data serves as the basis for various location-based services and spatial analysis. LocationsCloud offers a full suite of POI datasets to help organizations assess their competitive environment, identify new opportunities, and develop business intelligence utilizing data (or facts) to guide their business decisions.
This guide provides an overview of the main types of POI datasets, how they can be applied in a variety of situations, and how using this resource will enable organizations across industries to differentiate themselves from competitors.
What is POI Data?
Structured data about important places (i.e., POIs) helps the public find interesting or valuable activities. Points of interest hold all the essential details of a particular place (examples: name, address, longitude/latitude coordinates, category, contact information, operating hours, etc.). POI data is used by businesses to evaluate their market presence relative to competitors and to identify opportunities to expand into new areas.
LocationsCloud has extensive verified POI data for millions of locations worldwide. Each dataset undergoes comprehensive quality control before it’s made available to customers. It gives your company confidence in the accuracy, completeness, and reliability of the information provided.
Why Are Different Types of POI Data Important?
Not all types of Points of Interest (POI) are the same! Each POI category fulfills a unique business objective. Retail POIs enable businesses to study shopper activity and competition. Restaurant POIs provide insight into dining trends and market gaps. Healthcare POI provides data to assist with healthcare service planning and evaluation of accessibility to services. Understanding these POI categories will help businesses use the appropriate POI data to meet their business needs.
Additionally, comprehensive POI data provides context to a business’s location intelligence initiatives. Companies can leverage multiple categories of POIs to gain a comprehensive perspective of the markets they are working in. Using this approach allows companies to understand how different POI types relate to one another and how consumers interact with each type.
Retail POI Data
What Does Retail POI Data Include?
Retail points of interest (POIs) are commercial sites where consumers purchase goods. Retail POIs comprise department stores, specialty shops, convenience stores, grocery stores, shopping malls, factory outlet centres, and online e-commerce pickup sites.
POIs provide detailed attributes about the store itself, including store size, brand, product types sold, and customer review ratings.
The LocationsCloud retail POI database contains both large chains and independent retailers. This data also includes the store’s opening date, renovation dates, and closing date. Having historical information on the retail business helps companies assess how the market and their competitors are changing.
How Do Businesses Use Retail POI Data?
With Point of Interest (POI) data, retailers and other businesses can analyze potential retail locations, assess their competitors or similar businesses nearby, and determine how they might enter the market based on the area’s demographics.
POI data can also help optimize supply chains. Using location data can help distribution companies determine how to deliver items and configure their warehouses. By accounting for POI data, market researchers can identify retail trends and predict which shopping behaviors will continue or change to meet the needs of the population in that area over the next few years.
Key Retail POI Applications:
- Site selection and expansion planning
- Competitive landscape analysis
- Trade area definition and market sizing
- Supply chain and distribution optimization
- Real estate investment analysis
- Consumer behavior research
Restaurant and Food Service POI Data
What Types of Food Service POIs Exist?
Data for restaurant points of interest exists for all types of foodservice providers, including fine dining to casual restaurants, fast food to cafes, food trucks and caterers, bars to specialty food shops. Each restaurant entry contains its type of cuisine, price point, capacity (seating), whether or not it has delivery service available, and how it rates for health.
By accessing restaurant information from LocationsCloud, businesses can perform accurate, detailed, and quantified assessments of their restaurant markets. The various classifications also allow businesses to differentiate between full-service and limited-service restaurants, enabling them to assess and understand where they fit in their market quickly.
How Do Companies Leverage Restaurant POI Data?
Restaurant POI data helps plan and enter the restaurant market by developing menu strategies and creating new concepts, and by studying restaurant saturation by geography. Franchisors typically review the territory by assessing the number of existing restaurants and their corresponding key performance indicators (KPIs).
Food delivery services also use POI data to identify areas that best suit their services; this is achieved by creating maps that show where restaurants are based on customer demand and restaurant density. Likewise, developers use this information to assess the commercial property value of the restaurants and create a plan for mixed-use development.
Healthcare POI Data
What Healthcare Facilities Are Included in POI Data?
Healthcare Point Of Interest data includes a wide range of facilities, such as hospitals, clinics, urgent care facilities, outpatient pharmacies, dental offices, laboratory services, physical rehabilitation services, psychiatric care agencies, and many specialized facilities. Each type of healthcare Point Of Interest provides the following attributes: facility type, type of care, number of beds, availability for emergency services (if any), and current accreditation status.
Healthcare Point Of Interest datasets available through LocationsCloud will allow organizations to assess the adequacy of current healthcare service access and identify service gaps to plan for future development of healthcare services. Some examples of use cases for this data include healthcare planning, insurance network development, and improving overall patient care.
Why Is Healthcare POI Data Critical?
Healthcare organizations use Point of Interest (POI) data when conducting network adequacy analyses and facility planning. Insurance companies analyze POI data to make sure their members have access to care by evaluating their provider networks. Hospitals use POI data to identify underserved communities that require new facilities & services.
Additionally, public health officers utilize the point-of-interest data when preparing for emergencies or allocating resources. Public health officials review facility distribution to verify that there is sufficient access to facilities to serve the population during a health crisis. Pharmaceutical companies also use POI data to determine sales territories and deploy medical representatives.
Healthcare POI Data Applications:
| Use Case | Description | Primary Users |
| Network Adequacy | Ensure adequate provider coverage | Insurance Companies |
| Facility Planning | Identify locations for new facilities | Healthcare Systems |
| Emergency Response | Plan disaster response resources | Public Health Agencies |
| Market Analysis | Assess competition and opportunities | Private Practice Groups |
| Sales Planning | Optimize pharmaceutical sales territories | Pharmaceutical Companies |
Financial Services POI Data
What Financial POI Types Matter?
In financial services, Points of Interest (POI) encompass several locations associated with banking and finance, including but not limited to Banks, credit unions, ATMs, investment offices, insurance agencies, currency exchange facilities, and financial advisory firms. Each POI will include a breakdown of institution type, services offered, accessibility, and operating hours.
LocationsCloud captures comprehensive sets of POI data for financial services, enabling institutions to plan their branch networks and ATM locations effectively. This data contains both traditional and digital banking interaction points.
How Do Financial Institutions Use POI Data?
Financial service organizations use point-of-interest (POI) location information for a variety of reasons. POI is an important tool for a bank to optimize its branch network design or plan its ATM network by evaluating where customers are located relative to competitors’ locations.
Insurance companies use market POIs to analyze their coverage (or lack thereof) where they have agents. Similarly, investment firms analyze where wealthy people live so they can better position themselves to develop relationships with high-net-worth clients. Therefore, the effective use of POIs has become critical for the future growth strategies of financial services organizations.
Education POI Data
What Educational Facilities Are Tracked?
The database contains POI data on educational institutions such as schools, universities, vocational training facilities, daycare centres, libraries, tutoring centres, and physical education websites. Each educational POI listed in the database is recorded with the institutional grade level, capacity to accommodate students, rating, and whether the institution provides specialised programming.
The education POI database provides valuable assistance to parents, education providers, and policymakers in analysing the distribution of educational resources across the community. The educational POI database provides significant assistance to school districts in planning and appraising real estate.
Who Benefits From Education POI Data?
POI education data helps real estate agents evaluate property values. For example, homes near highly performing schools are generally worth more than homes in areas without such schools. Developers use the proximity of educational facilities when designing residential communities.
Similarly, educational companies use POI data to plan for new markets. For example, tutoring centers may use POI data to identify areas with a high student density and limited tutoring competition. Many Education technology companies will assess how many schools exist in a given area’s POI to develop their sales and marketing strategies.
Entertainment and Recreation POI Data
What Entertainment Venues Are Included?
Entertainment points of interest (POI) data includes movie theatres, sports facilities, parks, museums, concert halls, amusement parks, fitness centres, recreational centres, and event spaces. Each leisure-related POI includes capacity, features/amenities, accessibility, and seasonal operating info.
LocationsCloud helps businesses understand their customers’ leisure preferences by tracking all leisure venues. This information provides insights for tourism planning (where to travel), event management, and the development of hospitality services.
How Does Entertainment POI Data Drive Business Decisions?
Entertainment POI Data is useful for Hospitality Businesses when selecting sites and executing Marketing Strategies (e.g., Hotels analyze the attractions near their Property to determine how to position their Hotel strategically; Restaurants look for Entertainment POIs with high foot traffic when deciding where to open a New Location).
Event Planners also use Entertainment POI Data to identify suitable venues and understand the Competitive Landscape. Tourism Boards utilize Entertainment POI Data in their efforts to attract Visitors to their Destinations and to assist with Infrastructure Investments.
Transportation and Mobility POI Data
What Transportation POIs Exist?
Data on Transportation POIs will include items such as: Airports, Railway Stations/Terminals, Bus Stations/Terminals/Parking Facilities, EV Charging Stations, and Bike Share Locations. Each Transportation POI has Capacity, Operating Hours, and Connectivity Available Information.
LocationsCloud provides up-to-date transportation POI data representing the changing status of Mobility Ecosystems.
Why Is Transportation POI Data Valuable?
Transportation point-of-interest (POI) data can assist urban planners in creating the infrastructure needed to develop a community. They will use this information to analyze how transportation access in a community affects the equitable distribution of service(s).
In addition, real estate developers will consider transportation proximity when selecting project locations.
Logistics providers can also use transportation point-of-interest (POI) to optimize routes. Ride-hailing companies will leverage transportation point-of-interest (POI) data to position their drivers and reduce or eliminate wait time accurately.
How to Choose the Right POI Data for Your Business
What Factors Should You Consider?
When selecting POI Data, consider the type of business you operate, your industry, and your geographic location. You also want to determine how fresh, how accurate, and how many attributes will be available for each POI, as well as the coverage area for each point-of-interest dataset. LocationsCloud offers customizable POI datasets tailored to your specific business criteria.
To evaluate the quality of POI data, consider how often it is updated. While some businesses update their POI data regularly, others may do so at varying intervals. Additionally, POI data should be verified, meaning there is a process to ensure the POIs are valid. Finally, investors who use high-quality POIs will expect to see attribute data for each location, beyond the basic name and physical address.
How Does LocationsCloud Ensure POI Data Quality?
LocationsCloud combines several verification methods to confirm that data on its platform is up to date. These include: ground-truthing, community crowdsourced updates, government records, and machine learning algorithms. The Platform continuously scans for updates to Points of Interest (POIs) and updates the dataset accordingly.
LocationsCloud also provides information on the lineage of the data it has collected so that customers can view the source credibility and update history. This transparency allows businesses to evaluate whether the data they receive meets their specific business needs.
Conclusion
POI Data (Point of Interest) is one of the most effective tools available to companies in virtually every industry, including retail, restaurants, healthcare, and financial services. Every type of POI has its own purpose and serves different types of companies as a basis for critical decisions on expansion, marketing, and operations.
To effectively leverage location intelligence within their organizations, companies must understand the differences among POI data types. Accurate POI data can help companies analyze their competitive landscape, evaluate the best locations for new facility development, and develop an optimized service delivery network to improve efficiency. As location-based services continue to grow in popularity, POI data will remain an important component of a company’s business strategy and overall growth.
Would you like to take advantage of POI data? Discover how LocationsClouds’ complete collection of data can help you achieve your location intelligence goals and ultimately drive your company’s success.
