A missed opportunity for Geospatial

Posted on October 30, 2013 Updated on August 14, 2026

I have a Corvette that I like to work on for fun and relaxation. It gives me an excuse to learn something new and an opportunity to hone my troubleshooting skills. It can be a fun way to spend a few hours on a weekend.

A few weekends ago, I was looking for a few parts for a small project. This was spur-of-the-moment and didn’t need to be done right away (as the car will be stored soon for the winter). I found the parts I needed from a single company, but then something strange happened.

The website had my address and knew the two parts I wanted, but the process was not easy and almost cost them the sale. This company forced me to manually check five different store locations to see if they had both parts. In this case, two of the five did. One store was about 5 miles from my house and the other about 20 miles away.

It would have been helpful if this website used the available data (inventory and locations) to present me with two options, or, better yet, default to the closest store and note the other store as an option. Using spatial features, this would be extremely easy to implement. It’s the equivalent of the “Easy Button” that one office supply company uses in their commercials.

Now, let’s take this example one step further. The website makes things quick and easy, leaving me with a very pleasant shopping experience. It could then recommend related items (it did, but by that time I had wasted more time than necessary and was questioning whether or not I should start that project that day). The website could also create a simple package offer (e.g., auto wax and polishing supplies) to increase my cart value while leaving me impressed with the convenience. While this last portion isn’t spatial, it is complementary technology that enhances the value provided by spatial technology.

All simple things that would generate more money through increased sales and larger sales. It is easy to justify from both a business and technical perspective, assuming the company is aware of this issue.

I frequently tell my team that, “People buy easy.” Help them understand what they need to accomplish their goals, price it fairly, demonstrate the value, and they make the rest of the sales process easy. This makes happy customers and leads to referrals. It makes good business sense.

So, while geospatial technology might not be the solution to all problems, this is a specific use case where it would. The power of computing systems and applications today is that so much can be done so fast, often with reasonably low technology investment. The first step is to ask yourself, “How could we be making this process easier for our customers?”

A little extra effort and insight can pay off big for your business.