Geographic information systems (GIS) is a relatively new technology that is increasingly being used for decision making in business. Software and databases developed by organizations such as the Environmental System Research Institute (ESRI) are enabling business operators in the retail sector to use GIS to determine the ideal spatial attributes for business intelligence and analysis in addition to traditional measures such as sales area and turnover.
This is particularly important in the case of countries such as India, which presents a variety of distinctive challenges in the retail business. The country has only recently moved from an unorganized to an organized, territorial structure of retailing with the participation of the government and private business. Moreover, the level of the goods and the shopping locations is often non-competitive and of variable quality.
The number of companies adopting GIS is still limited due to its technical complexity, but it offers numerous features, such as the following:
• the ability to develop intelligent-marketing strategies by combining census, street, and suburb information
• identification of new target cities for roll out of existing formats
• mapping of certain kinds of customers to certain geographical locations
• analysis of customers' spatial location in a static and dynamic approach The future for GIS is promising. It has been adopted by Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited, the largest mobile operator in India, and other brands have been taking notice as well. By adopting GIS, India's retail industry promises to make rapid progress toward modernization and automation of the entire sector.

Questions for Discussion
1. How is GIS used in business applications?
2. Why would GIS be useful for India's retail industry?
3. How can companies conduct customer analysis through GIS?
4. What is the main hurdle for the adoption of GIS?