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Franchise Site Selection: How to Analyze Catchment Areas Before Opening a New Outlet

Authorepdipankarkaushik@gmail.com 5 min read
Franchise Site Selection: How to Analyze Catchment Areas Before Opening a New Outlet

Choosing the right location can determine the success of a pharmacy franchise. Therefore, Franchise Site Selection begins with analyzing catchment areas before opening a new outlet. By evaluating geographic and demographic factors early, pharmacy brands reduce expansion risks and improve investment decisions. Moreover, MAPOG Interactive Map Creation helps businesses visualize population density, nearby healthcare facilities, competing pharmacies, and customer demand on an interactive map.

Key Concept: Franchise Site Selection Analyze Catchment Areas Before Opening a New Outlet

Franchise site selection helps businesses choose the best location for a new pharmacy by analyzing the surrounding catchment area. It considers factors such as population density, nearby hospitals and clinics, competitor pharmacies, customer demand, and accessibility. Interactive maps bring all this information together in one place, making it easier to compare locations, identify underserved areas, and select sites with the highest growth potential.

Step-by-Step Workflow: Franchise Site Selection

1. Create a New Map

First, log in to MAPOG and open the Create and Publish Maps module.

MAPOG dashboard showing the Create & Publish Maps workspace

Next, click on the Create New Map button, select the option to create your map with a template.

Template selection in MAPOG for creating a new franchise site selection map

Then select the Store Mapper template for multi-location pins. 

Store Mapper template in MAPOG for creating multi-location franchise site selection map

After that, enter a suitable map title and description, click Create Map to open the map interface.

Franchise Site Selection map setup in MAPOG with Store Mapper template, title, and description fields

Also, open Map Settings and upload your company logo.

Map settings in MAPOG with pharmacy logo upload and branding options

2. Create New Business Location Template

Next, click Add Location and choose Upload CSV.

Location upload in MAPOG using the Upload CSV import option

Open the Business Location Settings to configure attribute fields and establish a reusable location type for future imports.

Business location template selection in MAPOG before CSV upload

Then, click Create New Type and enter a location type name. Afterward, select Point as the geometry type, also choose color.

New location type setup in MAPOG with title, color and geometry type

Now, add custom attributes for essential business information such as Franchise Type using select field type, Operating Hours using business hours field type, and a Contact Number attribute using Phone field type. Finally, enable Contributor Editing to allow team members to update and maintain store information whenever needed.

Custom attributes in MAPOG for pharmacy location type

3. Upload and Configure Store Locations

Now, return to Add Location and select the recently created location type from the drop down. Then, browse and select your Excel file and click Upload.

Franchise Site Selection CSV upload in MAPOG using a pharmacy location template

Next, select a unique id column or allow the platform to generate a unique ID automatically.

Select a unique id column or allow the platform to generate a unique ID automatically

Then, map every spreadsheet column with its corresponding attribute.

Franchise Site Selection CSV attribute mapping in MAPOG for accurate pharmacy location import

Also, ensure that the Latitude and Longitude fields are correctly mapped, so each pharmacy location is plotted accurately on the map.

Latitude and longitude mapping in MAPOG for accurate location plotting

Once all fields have been verified, click Submit to upload and plot the pharmacy locations.

Franchise Site Selection map in MAPOG displaying uploaded pharmacy locations

4. Edit Store Details

After the upload completes, click the Pencil icon beside any pharmacy location. Then, open the Edit business location details section.

Business location editing in MAPOG for updating pharmacy details

Next, add store descriptions, upload photos, etc or update existing information.

Business location details form in MAPOG for editing store information

5. Style and Configure Display Properties

Next, click the Three Dots beside the layer and select Add Layer Style.

Franchise Site Selection add layer styling option in MAPOG

Then, choose category style then select an attribute field like Store Type to categorize by. After that, assign different icons and colors to each category from the category icon section and click Save Style. 

Category styling in MAPOG with custom colors and icons for map locations

To customize map labels, open Label Feature and select the attribute to display from Select Label Feature. Customize the label by choosing the Font Style, Font Size, and Color, then click Save Label.

Map labels in MAPOG with custom text styling for pharmacy locations

Now, open Display Properties and select fields to display beside each location. As a result, users can view important pharmacy information quickly.

Display properties option in MAPOG

6. Import Patients Data

Next, upload your pharmacy demand CSV file using the same process. Consequently, this approach displays both pharmacy branches and patient distribution on one map.

Franchise Site Selection map in MAPOG showing pharmacy locations and patient demand clusters

7. Add Action Button

Open Map Settings and navigate to the Action Buttons section. Here, add website links with button text and phone numbers to the map interface.

Action Buttons section in MAPOG to add website and phone numbers to the map interface

8. Share and Publish Interactive Maps

When the map is ready, open the Share and Publish section. Then, select Private Map to restrict public access.

Share and Publish map settings with map type selection

Next, click Add User to provide map access. select members from the list and assign the appropriate role, including Editor, or Viewer. Finally, click Invite. 

Private franchise site selection map sharing in MAPOG with user roles and access permission settings

Afterward, select Public Map to share your map publicly. Next, click Share Link to generate a public URL.

Public map sharing in MAPOG with share link options

To embed the map on your website, click Embed Map to generate the embed code. Copy the generated code and paste it into your website, blog, or web application where you want the map to appear.

Franchise Site Selection map sharing in MAPOG with website embed code generation

Industries and Domains Benefitting from Franchise Site Selection Map

Several industries gain measurable value from this approach. Quick-service restaurants use catchment analysis to identify high foot-traffic zones and boost daily sales. Similarly, retail chains rely on it to expand into promising city clusters without overlapping existing stores. Healthcare and diagnostic franchises benefit by targeting residential density, ensuring easy patient access.

Franchise Site Selection interactive map in MAPOG with pharmacy details and patient demand analysis

Conclusion

Ultimately, Franchise Site Selection becomes more effective when pharmacy businesses analyze catchment areas before opening a new outlet. Moreover, MAPOG Interactive Map Creation converts complex geographic and demographic data into clear visual insights. At the same time, CSV/Excel to Map integration accelerates site analysis by transforming spreadsheets into interactive maps.

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