When Canadian hardware retailer RONA adopted Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to optimize operations, they achieved a stunning result: a 100% reduction in their external consulting budget. By leveraging GIS software to analyze customer locations, demographics, and purchasing patterns, RONA optimized its direct mail campaigns—sending the right marketing to the right households. This cut wasted mailings to the wrong markets, driving significant cost savings while increasing campaign impact.

So, what exactly is GIS? In simple terms, Geographic Information Systems are computer-based platforms that collect, store, and analyze data tied to geographic locations. Think of it as a way to unlock the “where” in your data. For example, a customer database with addresses can be mapped to reveal patterns in buying habits, service needs, or delivery routes. These insights don’t just sit on a map—they directly inform marketing, operations, and growth strategies.

In RONA’s case, GIS helped them tailor marketing to the right audience in the right location. But that’s just the beginning. Below, we’ll explore five ways GIS can improve your business operations – from targeted marketing to strengthening communication across teams.

Smarter Asset Management

No matter the size or industry of your business, smart asset management is essential for minimizing costs and maximizing profitability. Tracking, monitoring, and maintaining assets—whether facilities, equipment, or vehicles—can be a complex challenge. Poorly tracked assets often result in high repair costs, downtime, inefficiencies, and ultimately, reduced profitability.

Beyond cost savings, asset management has important intangible benefits. When employees don’t waste time searching for tools, equipment, or vehicles, their productivity and satisfaction increase. A well-structured asset management system means a business that runs more efficiently and delivers better results for both customers and staff.

This is where GIS technology becomes a game-changer. GIS provides powerful tools for tracking and visualizing assets in real time. Whether your assets are fixed (infrastructure, utilities, real estate) or mobile (vehicles, machinery, equipment), GIS gives you the spatial awareness needed to make better business decisions.

Fixed Assets Example: Electric companies use GIS to map and analyze networks of powerlines. With accurate geospatial data, they can monitor system performance, troubleshoot outages, and plan upgrades—ensuring reliable service and satisfied customers while cutting operational costs.

Mobile Assets Example: Amazon relies on GIS to manage delivery fleets, warehouses, drones, and inventory worldwide. GIS-driven asset tracking allows Amazon to optimize delivery routes, reduce fuel costs, and keep shelves stocked. This geospatial backbone is a key reason Amazon can promise—and deliver—speed, efficiency, and a seamless customer experience.

In short, GIS doesn’t just track where assets are; it provides the insight to use them more effectively, boosting both efficiency and employee performance.

Targeted Marketing and Customer Insights

Marketing is only effective if it reaches the right audience—and that’s where GIS unlocks a critical advantage. By combining customer data with GIS analysis, businesses can create campaigns that convert, expand operations strategically, and maximize ROI.

Most companies already use customer analytics—demographics, behaviors, purchasing habits—to craft their campaigns. But one key factor is often overlooked: location. GIS helps integrate the “where” into marketing, revealing not just who your ideal customers are, but also where they live, work, and shop.

The process often begins with building an Ideal Customer Avatar (ICA)—a profile that defines target demographics and psychographics. GIS takes this one step further by mapping where those customers are concentrated. Instead of casting a wide (and expensive) net, businesses can deliver the right message, to the right people, in the right places. This reduces waste, increases conversion rates, and makes every marketing dollar work harder.

GIS also supports strategic expansion decisions. By analyzing customer density, competitor locations, traffic flows, and demographics, businesses can identify the most profitable areas for growth. For example:

• A restaurant chain might use GIS to identify underserved neighborhoods using demographic and housing data before opening a new location.

• A retail brand might analyze purchasing patterns and foot traffic to decide where to launch a pop-up shop.

• A bank looking to open a new branch may apply various analytical GIS methods to ensure they are not splitting their customer base by placing the branch too close to their current customers.

With GIS-powered insights, businesses move from guesswork to precision marketing and expansion—reducing risk, boosting ROI, and ensuring growth is both targeted and sustainable.

Reduce Inefficiencies and Redundancies

One of the quickest ways for businesses to see a strong return on investment is by identifying and eliminating inefficiencies and redundancies in their operations. What this looks like varies by industry: a consumer product company may target failed deliveries and wasted inventory, while an agricultural business may focus on maximizing crop yields and minimizing irrigation and fertilizer costs. Regardless of the industry, GIS provides the analytical power to uncover hidden inefficiencies, streamline workflows, and guide smarter decision-making. By turning location-based data into actionable insights, businesses can reduce costs, improve productivity, and strengthen performance across the board.

The following are some of the most common inefficiencies businesses face—and how GIS helps solve them:

1. Manual Processes

Repetitive, manual workflows can drain time and resources. For example:

Retail Logistics: Manually planning delivery routes often leads to wasted fuel, overtime pay, and missed deadlines. GIS can automate route optimization, reducing travel time and cutting fuel costs.

Agriculture: Farmers relying on manual crop inspections waste precious time and resources. Remote sensing technologies like satellites and drones can be used to automate data collection and monitor crops, reducing labor costs.

The Impact: Faster, accurate workflows that reduce labor costs and minimize errors.

2. Slow Decision Making

Businesses are often bogged down by outdated or poorly maintained data – Increasing the time it takes to make critical business decisions. GIS can solve this by centralizing data into a spatial framework, providing businesses with real-time dashboards, tools, and analytics.  

Utilities: GIS dashboards help utility companies view the real-time status of their utility networks – allowing them to identify outages and prioritize repairs, reducing downtime for customers and increasing efficiency

Real Estate: Developers can access factors like land suitability, zoning information, and demographic data in one system – reducing the time spend gathering information from multiple sources.

The Impact: Faster, data-driven decisions that save time and reduce costly delays.

3. Poor Communication and Coordination

When teams aren’t sharing the same data or visualizing it differently, miscommunications cause inefficiencies. GIS provides tools to increase the consistency and accuracy of communication across teams and stakeholders.

Construction: Contractors, architects, engineers, and clients can all view real-time project progress on a shared map, reducing misunderstanding and increasing business efficiency.

Emergency Response: In the event of natural disasters, GIS ensures that first responders, government agencies, and utility companies are working together on the same situational map in order to coordinate resources effectively.

The Impact: Improved communication, fewer mistakes, and refined project execution.

In all, GIS tools can provide an immediate return on investment to businesses by reducing labor costs, sharpening decision-making abilities, and creating better synergy across teams and stakeholders.

Final Thoughts

The GIS field is expanding rapidly across industries, proving it is far more than a mapping tool—it is a powerful business asset that drives efficiency, sparks innovation, cuts costs, and informs critical decisions. From smarter asset management to targeted marketing, GIS equips businesses to reduce waste, improve communication, and gain a competitive edge. Organizations that embrace location intelligence today are positioning themselves at the forefront of their industries. As technology continues to advance, GIS will only grow more essential—unlocking new opportunities for growth and long-term success.