25 Nov Customer Success Story : Big C x Esri Thailand Transforming Retail with ArcGIS Business Analyst
Esri Thailand is helping transform Thailand’s retail industry as Big C adopts GIS technology powered by ArcGIS Business Analyst to improve service area planning, delivery operations, and the overall customer experience.
In a highly competitive market where speed, cost efficiency, and service quality are essential, Big C is taking a data-driven approach to retail management. By using location intelligence, the company can improve operational efficiency, reduce costs, and deliver a better customer experience.
The Challenge: Overlapping Service Areas Lead to Delivery Delays and Unnecessary Costs
With branches across Thailand, Big C faced a major challenge in defining the delivery service areas, or trade zones, for each branch. In some locations, these service areas overlapped without being clearly identified, creating several operational problems.
Deliveries took longer than necessary, resources were not always distributed efficiently, some branches were underused, and transportation costs increased. Ultimately, these issues affected customer satisfaction, a key priority in today’s digital retail environment.
Big C needed more than a traditional approach to redrawing service boundaries. The company needed a smarter way to analyze service areas using actual order data at individual locations, with the flexibility to respond to changing conditions in real time.
The Solution: ArcGIS and AI Transform Trade Zone Planning and Delivery for the Big C Plus App
Big C uses ArcGIS Business Analyst to develop a Retail Delivery Hub model that helps design and manage the service areas of its Big C Hypermarket branches for e-commerce orders.
The model brings together data from multiple sources, including the types of products customers order, delivery destinations, actual delivery times in different areas, and each branch’s delivery capacity. ArcGIS and AI then analyze this information to identify the most suitable trade zone configuration.
The goal is clear: reduce overlapping service areas, improve operational efficiency, and ensure timely deliveries.
The system also supports real-time re-optimization, allowing delivery assignments to be adjusted as conditions change. For example, when demand increases or an area becomes busier, the system can reallocate orders to help maintain fast and cost-effective deliveries.
By combining logistics data with GIS and AI, Big C gains a clearer picture of its delivery operations. This enables the company to respond more effectively to changing demand and manage its delivery network with greater accuracy and flexibility.
The Results: Lower Costs, Greater Efficiency, and Happier Customers
By integrating ArcGIS and AI into its decision-making process, Big C has achieved measurable improvements in costs, operational efficiency, and customer satisfaction.
- More than THB 12 million in annual delivery cost savings
- Over 50% improvement in customer satisfaction
- More effective resource allocation, ensuring resources are assigned where they are needed most
- Significantly improved delivery efficiency, supporting faster and more effective operations
Regional Recognition for Innovation
Big C’s effective use of technology earned the company the ASEAN Enterprise Innovation Award 2024 at the AIBP ASEAN Business Innovation Platform, representing Thailand on the regional stage.
The award recognizes Big C’s vision of using innovation not only to improve logistics operations but also to set a new benchmark for the retail industry across the region.
ArcGIS Business Analyst: Helping Retailers Make Better, More Informed Decisions
Big C’s experience demonstrates that ArcGIS Business Analyst is much more than a mapping tool. It is a location intelligence platform that helps retailers make better decisions by analyzing where customers are, how they shop, and how demand varies across different areas.
Retailers can use these insights to define more accurate trade zones, better understand customer ordering patterns and locations, plan future store expansions, and allocate resources more effectively. The platform also supports real-time operational adjustments, helping businesses respond quickly to changes in order volumes and fluctuating demand.
When business data is viewed and analyzed on a map, retailers gain a clearer understanding of their operations and the markets they serve. This allows them to make more informed decisions, use resources more efficiently, and get greater value from their investments.
As competition continues to reshape the retail landscape, ArcGIS Business Analyst is becoming an important technology for businesses looking to improve performance, adapt to changing customer needs, and build sustainable growth.
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