Find A Low-Maintenance Mapping Solution
Written by Ken Congdon, Integrated Solutions For Retailers Magazine
A convenience store chain with more than 400 locations throughout the Midwest was eager to implement a mapping program on its Web site to satisfy customer demand for information on store locations. Seeking a quick turnaround, the store hired a local solutions provider that claimed it could deliver the desired functionality.
From the outset, the mapping application didn't perform as promised. First, the program crashed frequently. After a certain number of customer requests for store locations, the application would time out and quit responding. Every time this occurred, a member of the store's IS department would have to stop and restart the application manually.
Second, the program had no purging process built in. Every time a customer would request to see store locations, the program engine would generate a map. This map was then saved to the convenience store's server so the image could be viewed by the customer. Eventually, these memory-intensive images need to be removed from the server. This function was not inherent to the application, so the convenience store's IS team had to write an additional program to clear these images.
Finally, the mapping program did not deliver the full realm of location functionality the convenience store wanted to provide to its customers. The program allowed customers to view store locations near a town, city, or ZIP code, but could not allow customers to plan a trip and view different store locations along the way. With all these problems, the convenience store decided it was time to select a new Internet mapping solution.
Gain Direction From Help Files
The convenience store considered three software packages as a replacement for its mapping program, and selected RouteMAP IMS by ESRI (Redlands, CA) because it was the least-expensive option, offered the desired location functionality, and could reside on the convenience store's server. A store representative explained that ESRI's attention to customer service also played a major role in the decision. "ESRI worked with me to create a customized sample Web site to show upper management what the software can do," says a programmer/analyst for the convenience store chain. "They also provided me with help files that saved me many hours implementing the solution. I didn't have to spend time figuring out how to set up a request interface or determining how a result map was generated, because it was all spelled out for me in the help files."
On The Road To Mapping Self-Sufficiency
The convenience store implemented its new RouteMAP IMS solution in a little over a month. The software is compatible with the store's current server environment and does not time out or quit responding. The IS department has never had to perform a restore procedure on this new application. Also, RouteMAP has an image-purging process built into the software. No additional labor is necessary to remove image files from the server because the software does it automatically. In addition, RouteMAP allowed the convenience store to add a trip-planning feature to its Web site. This feature allows customers to view all stores located between a selected start point and destination. Finally, the software allows for business scalability. Store locations can be added or removed from the application by updating the store geo-coding information located on the server. ESRI recently provided the store with a software engine that will allow new store locations to be generated on the fly. The convenience store is currently testing this feature and plans to implement it in the coming months.