Examining Foursquare’s New Location Data Tool

Examining Foursquare’s New Location Data Tool

Foursquare’s location data tool is an analytics platform that gives retailers real-world customer behaviour insights, drawing on a database of 100 million public places. The tool allows brands to measure foot traffic, compare performance against competitors, and understand how customers engage with physical retail locations — helping inform both ongoing strategy and ad placement decisions.

What Is Foursquare’s Location Data Tool?

Foursquare’s location data tool is a retail analytics dashboard designed to bring the power of digital analytics to physical, real-world locations. Foursquare aims to be the Google Analytics for the real world, helping brands understand how their customers engage with their retail locations.

The tool is built on Foursquare’s existing location database, which powers more than 100,000 apps — including Apple and Snapchat. Data collected through this network is normalised to accurately represent national or city-wide populations, then made available to brands through an analytics dashboard.

Foursquare’s location data tool is not limited to large enterprise brands — although its current focus is on retailer brands, the platform has been envisioned as a future resource for advertising and marketing agencies as well.

What Metrics Does the Foursquare Location Data Tool Track?

Using the Foursquare location data tool, retailers can access a range of customer behaviour metrics directly within the analytics dashboard. These metrics allow brands to build a detailed picture of who their customers are and how they shop.

Key metrics available through the tool include:

• Foot traffic volume over time
• Competitor foot traffic comparison
• Customer age and gender breakdown
• New versus returning customer split
• Visit frequency data

How Does Foursquare Location Data Work in Practice?

Foursquare’s location data tool works by collecting anonymised signals from its network of location-enabled apps, normalising that data to reflect real-world population distribution, and surfacing the results in a brand-accessible dashboard. Here is how the process works:

1. Location signals are collected passively through Foursquare’s database of over 100,000 connected apps.
2. Raw data is normalised to accurately represent a national or city-wide population.
3. Normalised insights are made available to brands through an analytics dashboard.
4. Brands can filter data by metrics such as demographics, visit frequency, and competitor comparison.
5. Insights are applied to retail strategy and ad placement decisions.

When Foursquare tested their service with T.J. Maxx, the results demonstrated the depth of insight the platform can deliver. According to Foursquare’s study of T.J. Maxx’s customer behaviour, 5% of T.J. Maxx’s customers visit on a weekly basis, and 80% of T.J. Maxx shoppers visited the retailer at least twice in the past year.

How Can Retailers Use Foursquare Location Data for Advertising?

Foursquare’s location data tool opens up a more precise approach to ad placement for retail brands. According to Foursquare, the platform gives brands the opportunity to study the habits of loyal customers and analyse accurate location data, making it easier to bring in new customers while maintaining existing bases.

Advertising use cases for the Foursquare location data tool include:

• Identifying locations dominated by existing customers, so acquisition ads are not wasted there
• Pinpointing locations with high footfall from new or infrequent visitors, where acquisition campaigns will have more impact
• Understanding the ideal placement for out-of-home or local advertising
• Tracking how advertising activity correlates with changes in foot traffic and conversion rates

For example, the data can prevent a brand from placing ads aimed at new customers in a location that is visited predominantly by existing weekly shoppers — ensuring budget is directed where it will have the greatest effect.

What Is the Future of Foursquare’s Location Data Tool for Agencies?

At present, Foursquare are primarily focused on retailer brands rather than agencies. However, Foursquare have envisioned a future where their service could help advertising and marketing agencies access the same depth of location intelligence currently available to retailers.

Potential future applications for agencies include:

• Tracking conversion rates and location-based sales for clients
• Identifying ideal ad placement locations using local foot traffic data
• Collecting granular, location-specific audience data to improve campaign targeting

Frequently Asked Questions About Foursquare’s Location Data Tool

What is Foursquare’s location data tool used for?

Foursquare’s location data tool is used by retailers to measure foot traffic, analyse customer demographics, compare performance against competitors, and inform advertising and marketing strategy using real-world location data.

How does Foursquare collect its location data?

Foursquare collects location data through its existing database, which powers more than 100,000 apps including Apple and Snapchat. This data is then normalised to accurately represent national or city-wide populations before being made available in the analytics dashboard.

What metrics can retailers track with Foursquare’s tool?

Retailers can track foot traffic volume, competitor comparisons, customer age and gender, new versus returning customer ratios, and visit frequency — all accessible through a single analytics dashboard.

Has Foursquare’s location data tool been tested with real brands?

Yes. According to Foursquare’s study of T.J. Maxx, the tool revealed that 5% of T.J. Maxx customers visit weekly, and 80% visited the retailer at least twice in the past year — demonstrating the platform’s analytical depth.

Is Foursquare’s location data tool available to marketing agencies?

Currently, the tool is focused on retailer brands. However, Foursquare have indicated that they envision a future where advertising and marketing agencies could also use the platform to track conversion rates, ad placement effectiveness, and local foot traffic data.