Release Notes September 25, 2020

This month’s release involves a cleaner interface, new features (support for different kinds of files), improvements to the Data Mining module, the introduction of Weather Analysis, and many bug fixes and enhancements. Census Tracts (CT) are now supported as a Trade Area! You will find this option on the drop-down while uploading, next to FSA and DA. Additionally, FSA and DA files are now under Area Based Trade Areas. […]

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How to Find Your Top Prospects?

Identifying potential customers can be a challenging and time consuming task. Taking a shot in the dark on who and where your targets results in less success when trying to close a prospect. Prospecting is further complicated by the fact that there are many options you can choose to search for your targets. Options range from search engines (be it LinkedIn or Google), to more high end solutions involving surveys and data analysis but these tend to be time consuming and challenging to execute. […]

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Release Notes July 27, 2020

This month’s release is a quiet one: bug fixes and performance improvements. You might not notice much other than Polaris running a little faster. If you’re using an adblocker, you’ll get a warning now. Adblockers are known to interfere with the Mapping Centre, particularly Heat Maps. We made improvements to the Data Mining module, including validating data and column headers and user interface simplifications. Contact your account manager for more information […]

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Release Notes June 29, 2020

This month’s release includes many exciting updates for Polaris! We updated data/reports, added a new Food Spending Report (everything from amount spent on breakfasts purchased at table-service restaurants to spending on canned tuna), reorganized the structure of our Consumer Behaviour Report Categories, and recategorized our 4-digit NAICS Labour Force and NOC Occupation reports under Profession Patterns. We also made small aesthetics changes, fixed typos and other bugs […]

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What is Location Intelligence?

Location intelligence refers to the insights gained from layering a variety of useful geographical information systems (GIS) tools (such as POIs, demographics, geofences, heat maps and thematic maps of variables of interest). Using the layered spatial data, as well as the trends and relationships that these tools offer, businesses can make informed decisions on where to offer their services or operate their business. Use cases include site selection, identifying new customers and markets, […]

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Release Notes June 3, 2020

If there was one word to summarize the highlights of this release, it would be “geography”. We added support for a more granular level of geography for Trade Areas and for Thematic Maps. We also added a new report, the “Geography Report”. Of course, in anticipation of a delayed patio season, we also squashed some bugs. We added support for the use of Dissemination Areas (DAs) as Trade Areas. DAs are much smaller than FSAs and a little larger than postal codes, as you can see […]

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COVID-19 and Financial Wellness

The province of Québec is leading Canada in terms of reopening its economy. What are some financial risks if household incomes in Québec don’t return to normal soon? Are there parallels to be drawn to the rest of Canada? Which areas are most impacted financially and what does this mean for Québec’s real estate market? We can create a simple potential mortgage default index in Polaris by multiplying the following variables: % Household income from employment, Average mortgage […]

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Zooming in on Market Insights: Why Do Postal Codes Matter?

Businesses and organizations looking to analyze their market and gain customer insight need to choose the geographic resolution of their statistical and demographic data. Any GIS analyst can tell you one geographic level of analysis may not be perfect for all questions, and there are many different options to choose from (CMA, CD, DA, FSA, Postal Code level, etc.). Many underestimate the value of postal code […]

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