In SPOTLIGHT, you can run reports based on standard and custom trade areas. You also have the capability to export presentation-ready reports and maps, displaying both variables and trade areas.
A step-by-step guide on how to run reports can be found here. Alternatively, you can watch a video covering the same content.
Inputs Required
- An area of interest (please see Importing Files for more information)
Select Reports
Select Areas
View Results
Exporting Reports
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Select Reports
When you first log into SPOTLIGHT, you are taken to the Select Reports section.
1. If necessary, change the vintage of the reports. The active vintage is the one that is highlighted in red.
2. From the Reporting page, select the report(s) you want to run by clicking the check mark next to it. To select all the reports in a bundle, click the check mark next to the name of the bundle. If you would only like to select individual components of a bundle, click the check mark next to that page.
3. Once you have selected your report(s), click the 
icon at the top of the page to move to the next step.
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Select Areas
Once you have selected your reports, you are taken to the Select Areas section. You can Create New Areas or Select Existing Areas.
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Create New Areas
1. Click Create New Areas.
Please select one of the following options:
- Draw: You can manually draw a custom shape
- Distance: You can create a distance-based radii around a location
- Time: You can create a time-based area around a location (e.g. drivetime)
- Geography: You can create an area using a standard georgaphy
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Import a File: You can import a list of Census or Postal geographies, spatial polygons, a
list of addresses, or a list of coordinates
Draw
i. Click Draw. The Locate Your Area section appears.
Tip: You can enter an address of interest, in order to re-center your map. You can also zoom and pan the map yourself and then click the Draw button.
ii. Enter an address to locate your area of interest.
iii. Click Geocode. The map moves to the center on that address. The following drawing tools will appear.
Freehand
Polygon
Rectangle
Circle
iv. Click the preferred drawing tool and draw an area on the map.
v. In the Area Name box, type a name for the area
vi. Click Save
vii. Your list of existing areas appears with your new area selected.
Distance
i. Click Distance. The Locate Your Area section appears.
Tip: You can enter an address of interest, in order to re-center your map. You can also zoom and pan the map yourself and then click the Map Click button.
ii. Enter the address of interest. All of the address fields are required.
iii. Click Geocode. The map moves to center on that address.
iv. In the Units list, select the appropriate unit of measurement.
v. In the Type list, click a method of measurement.
- Linear Distance will create a radius around the location
- Drive Distance will create an area around the location based on how far a car could drive
vi. In the Sizes box, enter up to three distances, separated by commas. To create bands or donuts, enter two distances separated by a dash (e.g. 5 to 10 miles would be entered as 5-10).
Note: Ensure that there are no spaces between the distances (e.g. 1,3,5).
vii. Click Create.
viii. In the Area Name box, type a name for the areas.
ix. Click Save. Your list of existing areas will appear with your new area(s) selected.
x. Click the icon at the top of the page to move to the next step.
Time
i. Click Time. The Locate Your Area section appears. -
Tip: You can enter an address of interest, in order to re-center your map. You can also zoom and pan the map yourself and then click the Map Click button.
ii. Enter the address of interest. All of the address fields are required.
iii. Click Geocode. The map moves to center on that address.
iv. In the Type list, click which timing method to use. Drivetime refers to how far you could drive in average conditions.
- Drivetime - Heavy Traffic refers to how far you could drive in rush hour conditions
- Drivetime - Night refers to how far you could drive with minimal traffic
- Walking refers to how far you could walk at a speed of 3-4 miles per hour
v. In the Minutes box, enter up to three times, separated by commas. To create bands or donuts, enter two times separated by a dash (e.g. 15 to 30 minutes would be entered as 15-30).
Note: Ensure that there are no spaces between the time bands (e.g. 1,3,5).
vi. Click Create. The areas are drawn on the map.
vii. In the Area Name box, type a name for the areas.
viii. Click Save. Your list of existing areas will appear with your new area(s) selected.
viii. Click the icon at the top of the page to move to the next step.
Geography
i. Click Geography.
ii. Select a level of geography from the drop-down list. The level selected in this step will be reflected in the map. The map may zoom in or out, depending on the geographic level chosen.
iii. You can use the search bar to find a specific area.
iv. If necessary, zoom and/or pan the map to show a different area.
v. Click the map to select the specific geographies of interest.
vi. A list of your selected geographies will appear on the map.
vii. In the Area Name box, type the name of your custom area.
viii. Click Save.
Note: All of the selected geographies will be combined into one single area. If you selected four ZIP Codes, the result will be one area of the combined ZIP Codes. It may be helpful to list those ZIP Codes in the name of the area. Reports now have a Details page which will list the individual geographies selected via this method to create the single area.
ix. Your list of existing areas will appear, including your new area selection.
x. Select an area to use as a benchmark by clicking on the check mark 
in the left-hand column.
xi. Click the icon at the top of the page to move to the next step.
Import a File
For detailed information about importing files, please see SPOTLIGHT - Importing Files or you can watch a short video (3:32 mins) below.
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Select Existing Areas
You can use any existing areas you have created previously.
Inputs Required
1. Click Select Existing Area, a list of your areas will appear.
2. Select areas of interest by clicking on the check mark in the left-hand column.
Tip: You can quickly search for an existing area by typing the name of it into the Filter your areas box.
3. Click the icon at the top of the page to move to the next step.
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View Results
Once you have selected your areas, you are taken to the View Results section.
A message will appear on the screen indicating that the report is complete. That notification will appear within SPOTLIGHT, but an email will also be sent to the email address of the account owner.
1. Click Results. The list of your results appears.
Note: If any of the results are listed in bold font, they are new and have not yet been viewed. You will also see a notification at the top of the screen indicating the number of any new reports.
2. Click the name of the report to open it.
Note: If the report has this icon in the left-most column 
, it is not yet finished processing and will not open.
3. Click the arrow to expand the Navigation Panel to see all the outputs you specified for this report. You can use the pushpin icon to keep the panel open.
4. Click the items in the list to see the detailed information for that item. If you have chosen multiple trade areas, you can view them from the Select an Area list.
Tip: You can click the Presentation Mode button 
to see the reports in a full-screen mode.
5. Use the Left and Right arrows on your keyboard to scroll through the pages of the report. If you have chosen multiple trade areas, you can view them by using the Up and Down arrows on your keyboard.
Note: Press the Esc key to exit full-screen mode.
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Exporting Reports
1. In the top ribbon, click Results.
2. Click on the report that you would like to export.
3. Once the report is open, expand the side panel by clicking on the arrow or pushpin.
4. Click Download File > Batch Reports, Side-by-Side, or Long File.
- Batch Reports: outputs are formatted reports, one per data slice (available output formats include PDF and XLSX)
- Side-by-Side: outputs a single formatted report with each data slice side-by-side (available output formats include PDF and XLSX)
- Long File: outputs as an unformatted table with each data slice stacked one below the other (available output formats include XLSX, CSV, and ACCDB)
Note: Not all reports support the Side-by-Side option. If you are trying to download a number of different reports at once and Side-by-Side is not an option, please run the reports individually.
5. Choose the file type that you would like to download. Once you have made your selection, click Create. If you choose PDF, before you click Create, click the arrow next to it to select the desired PDF Options for your output.
6. The PDF Options dialog box will pop up, where you can adjust the following settings:
- Document Size: allows you to change the page size of the output PDF
- Orientation: allows you to change the orientation of the pages of the output PDF; If this is left set to Automatic, the pages will adjust to best fit the report pages
- Margins: allows you to adjust the size of the margins
- Zoom: allows you to adjust the size of the reports on the page
- Merge Documents: allows you to merge all documents into one single PDF file if you had run a report with multiple trade areas
- Title Page: allows you to automatically add a title page to the PDF output
- Table of Contents: allows you to automatically add a table of contents to the PDF output
7. Make any necessary changes and click OK.
You will see a message appear in the bottom-right corner of your screen indicating that the report is processing. Once it is complete, you will see another message indicating so.
Navigate to the Results page to download your file. You will see an icon next to your file, indicating the file type that you chose. Click the icon to open the report.
