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Data

MobileScapes

Mobile movement data, updated daily

 

Mobile analytics help businesses and organizations enhance what they know about consumer and population movement patterns.

MobileScapes is the most accurate, comprehensive and up-to-date mobile movement database available for marketing and business applications in Canada. MobileScapes is developed from permission-based data collected by our trusted suppliers, using location-enabled apps. The data are de-identified by our suppliers before they are sent to Environics Analytics and then modelled using the best spatial data processing and analysis practices.

Use MobileScapes to learn about locations visited or competitor locations, how often, and where they live and work to inform decisions around products, program development, marketing, messaging, recovery planning and staffing levels. When linked to our PRIZM® segmentation system, mobile movement data makes it possible to develop detailed profiles of consumers in any trade area or location, whether you have customer data or not.

 

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Easily accessible

Access via EA’s analytics platforms, through API calls, as data extract files and in project work

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Near real-time

Updated daily to better understand the movement patterns of Canadians

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Privacy compliant

High-quality and anonymized sourced from de-identified permission-based data

Want to know more about mobile analytics?



MobileScapes Product Suite

Choose from three easily- accessible configurations to suit your various business needs: MobileScapes Out & About, MobileScapes ENVISION and MobileScapes Plus.

 

MobileScapes Out & About

Discover whose mobile devices are leaving their home locations as the economy re-opens, where they are going and at what time of day. Inform recovery plans using weekly monitoring reports to compare out-and-about activity week-over-week or versus the same time last year.

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MobileScapes ENVISION

Now ENVISION users can quickly analyze large volumes of mobile movement data by location using hand-drawn polygons, existing location files or the new EA geofence library. Easily connect movement data to EA's 30,000 data points to derive key insights and link to dashboards and custom reports.

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MobileScapes Plus

Access standard and customized mobile movement data extracts, including weekly reports, via API or as flat files. Choose weighted or unweighted data options and leverage EA's new geofence library.

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About the MobileScapes Database

Accurate, anonymized and privacy-compliant mobile movement data accessible by MobileScapes ENVISION, MobileScapes Out & About and MobileScapes Plus.

 

  • Updated daily
  • Weighted to the general population for an accurate representation
  • Available at the postal code level and linked to EA's 30,000 data points
  • Easily accessible through EA’s analytics platforms, via API calls, as data extract files and in project work
  • Integrate mobile movement data with EA's PRIZM segmentation system to develop detailed profiles of consumers in any trade area or location whether or not you have customer data
  • Utilize our existing, proprietary geofence database to understand changing consumer patterns across industries for any time frame, time of day, week-over-week or year-over-year.

 

For release notes and more information, visit our community site.

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Answer Important Sector-Specific Questions, Quickly

 

Government: Which groups of residents are accessing parks and other green spaces? Who is starting to frequent local businesses? Or use public transportation?

Retail: How quickly are different parts of the population heading back to bricks-and-mortar locations? How do changing shopper patterns impact staffing and store hours?

What consumer segments are also shopping with your competitors?

Financial: Are the same segments coming back to branches as during pre-pandemic times? Which audiences are a priority for additional online services?

Grocery and CPG: How have shopper patterns changed pre- and post-pandemic? How can this help with sales forecasting?

Travel and Tourism: How do visitor volumes to a region compare to the same time last year? Who is most likely to come back?

 

Webinar: MobileScapes for Business Recovery

How do marketers and other decision-makers move forward in these uncharted waters?

We believe the answer is threefold:

  1. Develop an understanding of consumers’ movement away from their homes – who are they, where they are going, for how long and how this is changing week-to-week (and importantly, how this compares relative to pre-pandemic patterns)

  2. Differentiate these consumers and citizens based on their demographics, motivations and attitudes

  3. Identify the neighbourhoods where these varying populations live in order to effectively reach and engage them

Learn how to successfully accomplish the steps above by leveraging new and existing data sources, including mobile movement data, innovative technologies and applying analytical and industry sector expertise – all within a privacy-compliant framework.

 

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Ready to really understand your customers?

Connect your data to mobile movement data

Mobile Analytics and Recovery Planning

Connecting mobile movement data with traditional data provides incremental and actionable insights on consumers and citizens – their movement patterns, where they live, shop and play, as well as where and how to connect with them.

 

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Mobile Analytics FAQs

  • Mobile analytics help businesses and organizations enhance what they know about consumer and citizen movement patterns using privacy-compliant mobile movement data collected from location-enabled mobile devices. 

  • Mobile movement data are anonymized and permission-based data collected from location-enabled apps on mobile devices. The main sources of data are opt-in location-enabled applications on mobile devices and ad exchange platforms.  At its most basic level, raw mobile movement data provides a unique and persistent, yet anonymous, device ID, along with a date, time and latitude/ longitude coordinates for each observation. We then take steps to ensure privacy, such as summarizing the data to periods of time. All observed latitude and longitude coordinates are moved to the nearest 6-digit postal code to ensure anonymity.

    Researchers can then observe devices within a defined area such as a store, public square or roadway for a given date and time range. Common evening location (CEL) and common daytime location (CDL) are inferred according to where these devices are most frequently observed during the day and at night. When analyzed correctly, mobile movement data can help you understand who’s visiting your locations, where your customers are coming from, how often they return and where else they might be going.

    • Build Enhanced Customer Profiles: Easily link mobile movement data back to smaller area data and PRIZM segments to get a clearer picture of your target market.
    • Analyze Consumer Traffic: Identify the changing patterns in consumer visits to your location week-over-week and versus the same period last year.
    • Gain Competitive Insights: Understand the visitor profile for nearby competitors and how their trade areas interact with your own.
    • Improve Retail Site Selection: Pinpoint where your most frequent visitors are coming from to identify expansion opportunities and focus your local marketing efforts.
    • Validate Sponsorship Opportunities: Determine if your sponsorship initiatives are aligned with your target market.
    • Measure Brand Visibility: Profile consumers who have visited your locations or been exposed to your outdoor advertising.
  • The data are updated daily. Data pulls can date back to 2018.

  • Yes. You can easily connect mobile movement data to EA’s traditional databases or your existing market and customer analysis for a more granular understanding of Canadian movement patterns, behaviours and preferences.

    ENVISION users can link mobile movement data to EA’s 30,000 data points including demographic, lifestyle, social values and spending information from the PRIZM segmentation system to develop detailed profiles of consumers in any trade area or location whether you have customer data or not. 

  • EA’s mobile movement data comes from 5 combined sources of high-quality data. We went through a thorough review with many data providers and selected the top 5 based on data quality and privacy compliance.

  • Yes. Our mobile movement data are collected only if the individual provides consent or permission. Consumers can easily change their level of location sharing overall or for individual mobile apps via their privacy settings on their mobile devices. Depending on the individual app settings, device holders can decide if a particular app should share their location while in use or block that permission outright. We actively participate in industry and association conversations in these areas, creating policies that protect individuals and allow for the responsible use of data.

    To learn more about our privacy efforts, read our privacy policy.

Privacy Compliant Mobile Movement Data

The MobileScapes database represents privacy-compliant and anonymized mobile movement data collected by our trusted suppliers from permission-based apps that are location-enabled on mobile devices.

Environics Analytics is committed to protecting consumer privacy and data security in all respects, including our use of mobile movement data. We actively participate in industry and association conversations in these areas, creating policies that protect individuals and allow for the responsible use of data. See our privacy policy for more information.

 

Mobile Analytics Insights and Trends

Read about EA's recent mobile movement studies covered by the media, timely analysis from our industry experts and insights on how organizations are looking to mobile movement data and mobile analytics to inform their recovery planning.

 

 

Industry Insights

Find timely analysis from our industry experts and insights on how organizations are looking to mobile movement data and data analytics to inform recovery planning.

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News Coverage

Recent coverage of EA studies looking at how the COVID-19 crisis is impacting the Canadian population financially and socially.

In the News

Measuring Canadian Travel Patterns

Understand the impact of COVID-19 on Domestic Overnight Visitors within Canada, its provinces, territories and tourism regions.

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COVID-19: A Neighbourhood View

We combined the City of Toronto’s COVID-19 case data with our population data to access a more nuanced view of the pandemic as it affects Toronto.

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