Perrine BONIFACE
Could you introduce your company?
Visaudio is the head of the retail network Écouter Voir.
Écouter Voir is a mutualist chain, representative of the Social and Solidarity Economy, which stands out for its strong values. In a few figures, the brand represents 5,000 employees and a national network of 1,200 stores (750 optical centres and 450 hearing centres).
There are several branches within Visaudio. On the one hand, purchasing and logistics, and on the other, operations (communication, marketing, training, quality) and finally the part that I manage: the Research and retail strategy department.
What are the roles of the Insights department?
We have several roles within the Insights and research department. First of all, we have a monitoring role in the optical and hearing sectors: understanding the market, following market news, etc. We also monitor our competitors, their offers and the prices they set. Then, we set up a monthly monitoring for our network but also in-house so that everyone is up to date with what’s new in the company and on the market.
Secondly, we manage all aspects of development and geomarketing research: carrying out and reporting the research and advising on locations. We produce either global geomarketing studies or more targeted geomarketing studies on identified loactions.
Finally, we provide advices on the openings, closings or relocations of stores. It can be global advice or more precise advice on a specific location according to the determined turnover for it.
How do you use the Codata solution?
In the beginning, we were looking for a solution like Codata because we wanted detailed data on catchment areas we studied. Beyond the geomarketing studies, we wanted to be very precise about the locations: what are the most qualitative locations? What is the commercial layout of a zone (clusters, established retailers, turnover rate of the shops, commercial vacancy rate)? All data is included in our study to be increasingly precise and accurate in our search for locations. Our goal is to advise “shop management groups” to help them find the best locations in retail areas.
What are the features that you use the most?
I mainly use the search engine for sites to visualise which commercial sites are located in a defined geographical area.
For example, if I have to carry out a study on Bordeaux, I am going to search all commercial sites located in Bordeaux. Then, depending on the type of study, I am going to refine the search: are we looking for a location in a city centre or in a retail area? Are we looking to establish an optical centre or a hearing centre? We are searching for more detailed data that way.
I also consult maps because the interface provides a global overview of the retail areas in particular thanks to the option of displaying the activities carried out by shops in these zones. I find this feature useful because it allows me to identify which parts of the zones are geared towards which activities. For example, within our needs, we are mostly looking for areas geared towards personal goods.
Recently, I discovered that you can draw up your development plan directly in the Codata solution. I am planning to use this method shortly to refine the development plans we already use.
According to you, what are the strong points of the Codata solution?
The accuracy of the data, the updating of the data and the fact that the data is updated by a team working in the field.
What is particularly valuable when we are looking at a city centre is the level of detail in the data such as being able to see the main axes along which the shops are located, or the characteristics of the retailers present in an area.
The more detailed the data, the more useful it will be. It enables us to provide more precise advices indeed. Given that our role is limited to theoretical geomarketing studies, it is the duty of the “shop management groups” to visit the site. The more we provide them with funnelled data, the less they will have to scour the area to find a qualitative location in the field.
Finally, the footfall data available for the city centres, is another strong point of the solution.