Retailers are already implementing Big Data tools such as location intelligence and foot traffic analytics to understand consumer mobility patterns, measure foot traffic at each store, understand the performance of their outlets, and estimate competitor turnover.
Location intelligence is revolutionizing the way companies establish, operate and expand their business.
From deciding where to locate a new store to analyzing foot traffic to gauge market competition, the use of location data is growing.
One of the key components of location intelligence is data related to points of interest (POIs). POIs indicate a specific location in an area of interest to businesses: it can be a store, a hospital, a university, or a corporate building, among others, depending on the information required for the particular target, helping companies make faster, more informed and cost-effective decisions.
Big Data together with mobility analytics and location intelligence techniques allow increasingly accurate estimates of the levels of visits received by points of sale, revealing geographic patterns of brand loyalty and market penetration.
Get to know the competition and how they behave in the market is now possible, thanks to technological tools that provide an overview of mobile device activity associated with brand locations, helping to visualize a detailed picture of consumer engagement, brand loyalty, and market share.
Location Analytics has changed the way marketing and commercial strategies are defined in the fast-food restaurant franchise business.
Understanding consumers’ behavior patterns is critical for all types of restaurants. Big Data tools play a very important role in this analysis, since they make possible to measure the foot traffic and mobility patterns of a specific area or location, among other variables.
With the opening of its first store, which will be located in the La California neighborhood of the country's capital, a chain of stores named "Oli!" will begin to compete in the local market in June 2021.
The new store chain will be operated by the local business group IMLC Group and will compete in a market segment that is dominated by AM PM, Corporacion Automercado, among other chains.
In Costa Rica, the Commission to Promote Competition stated that they do not agree with any type of exclusivity in the emergency medical insurance market for inbound tourism.
The Commission recommends not to allow initiatives that establish as a mandatory requirement for travelers, a medical insurance for inbound tourism, as it could detract from the country's competitiveness and increase the cost of traveling to Costa Rica.
During the last year, the revenues of delivery platforms have grown considerably in El Salvador, a phenomenon that has increased competition and forces companies to innovate in order to attract new customers and retain existing ones.
Due to the restrictions imposed by the covid-19 outbreak, the change in shopping habits and the preference of many people to avoid going to commercial establishments, mobile platforms dedicated to home delivery have exponentially increased their operations and sales.
Mawi and Tenndo are recently created digital platforms that in the Costa Rican market will be dedicated to commercialize services and products of SMEs and independent professionals through the Internet.
Given the accelerated emergence of the new commercial reality and the change in people's consumption habits, online sales have gained ground, since due to the covid-19 outbreak consumers prefer to stay at home longer.
Although dealing with a demanding and challenging market with several competitors, companies dedicated to the transportation of people and delivery still visualize multiple opportunities in Costa Rica.
The need to access more efficient mobility, changes in consumption patterns and the upward trend in the introduction of smartphones and the Internet, have created a business scenario in which the demand for mobile platform services dedicated to the transportation of people and home delivery, increases over the years.
Under the brand name of Topo Chico, Coca-Cola began to commercialize in the Costa Rican market a carbonated drink with alcohol, which belongs to the category known as "hard seltzer" or "spiked seltzer."
For now, the drink will be imported from Mexico, but Coca-Cola does not rule out producing it locally in the future.
In Costa Rica, Topo Chico Hard Seltzer will compete directly with "Adam & Eve", a product of the same category that is marketed since 2019 by Florida Ice, Farm & Co (Fifco).
As a result of the fast emergence of the new commercial reality, several business models that were profitable until the first quarter of 2020, are now obsolete, forcing business leaders to rethink strategies to survive in this new scenario.
The spread of covid-19 generated radical transformations in the markets for goods and services, in the ways people work, modified several consumption habits, and even changed some tastes and preferences.
Due to weak competition in the local market, the prices of goods and services in the basic basket are significantly higher in Costa Rica than in nearby countries.
A report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), called the "Economic Study on Costa Rica", concludes that consumers in the country pay higher prices for milk, rice, vehicles and Internet services.
Click Box, a company that replicates the business model of Amazon and AliExpress, entered the Salvadoran market a few months ago and so far sells products from some 50 local businesses.
In this scenario of changing consumer habits, which emerged from the spread of covid-19, online commerce has reported a considerable rise. A report by CentraAmericaData states that interest in e-commerce services in El Salvador has been growing since January 2020, and that this trend has continued.
Increasing demand, new competitors of all kinds and the manufacture of uncertified products are some of the changes that this business is bringing to the pandemic scenario in Costa Rica.
According to CentralAmericaData reports, in Costa Rica since January 5, 2020 the interactions on the Internet associated with cleaning products show a clear upturn.
Because the transportation services provided by platforms like Uber cause people to increasingly question whether or not they need to buy a vehicle, vehicle dealers must face new challenges to keep up with sales.