Mapping Trade Areas (Thematic)

You can create a thematic map of either a variable or customers and symbolize the data within existing Trade Areas. For example, if areas around store locations have been created, the mapping function can thematically shade all of these corresponding areas. This functionality is similar to the features of mapping variables or customers, but the symbolization will be limited to Trade Areas only.

Required Inputs:


1. In the side panel, click Mapping.

Mapping in side panel menu

2. Click on the Add Layer tab.

Add layer tab

3. Scroll over the Variable or Customer layers and click My Trade Areas.

Select my trade areas in menu

4. Select your variable or customer file

For variable:

Select variable

For Customer file:

Select customer file

5. Once you have made your selection, click Next.

Next button

6. Use the search bar to find the desired Trade Areas. Search by either Name or Tags by checking the search options. Click the checkboxes next to the Trade Areas that you'd like to include in your map.

Select trade areas

Note: Select a minimum of three Trade Areas. If you do not have enough or would like to create other Trade Areas, click Create New Area(s), which will lead you to a window where you can create Trade Areas using the Draw, Distance, Drivetime, Customer-Based, or Geography tools. Follow the steps in the Creating Custom Areas Using a Map article.

7. Click Next.

Next button

8. Specify the Map Type.

Map type settings

9. Click Create Layer

Create layer button

Your map is created using Trade Areas as boundaries to constrain the thematic map. It may take a few minutes for the data and layer to load onto the map

10. Edit the style of your map to suit your preferences. 

Map style options

Note: Toggling from breaks to labels allows you to customize the names of the ranges, which will be reflected in the legend.

11. Click Update Style once you are complete.

Update style button

Map showing the three trade areas

12. Navigate to the Content pane to see your map layers. Click the Reattach to Side Bar button; right arrow next to the exit workflow button. 

Reattach to side bar

Content pane

Each layer is driven by a workflow. You can rearrange layers by dragging them up and down, creating a hierarchical order for how each visible layer will be projected on the map.

Rearrange layers on map

13. You can add additional layers to your map by following the steps outlined in Mapping Customers, Mapping Variables and Mapping Segments.

14. Navigate to the Save Map tab and add a Title and Subtitle. Once complete, click Save. All saved maps are accessible through the Open Map tab.

Configure details and save map

15. Export the map using the Print tab. Make further customization changes to the map before printing or downloading.

Print tab

Please see the Mapping Glossary for more information.

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