Set up a project
To get started, you'll create a project in ArcGIS Business Analyst Web App.
- Open Business Analyst Web App.
- Sign in to your ArcGIS organizational account.
Note:
If you don't have an organizational account, see options for software access.
- If necessary, close the Welcome or What's new window.
Next, you will ensure that Business Analyst Assistant (Beta) is enabled.
- On the app header, point to the Business Analyst Assistant (Beta) button.
If the Business Analyst Assistant (Beta) is unavailable, a message will appear instructing you to contact your ArcGIS Organization administrator to enable Business Analyst Assistant (Beta) for your organization.
Now that you have confirmed Business Analyst Assistant (Beta) is enabled, you will create a project.
- If necessary, click the Home tab.
- Click New project.
- In the Create project window, for Project name, type Pickleball Market Research. Add your name or initials to the end and click Create.
After a few moments, a message appears confirming the project has been created.
- In the window that appears, check the box for Open new projects as soon as they are created and click OK.
The new project appears in ArcGIS Business Analyst Web App. Next, you will create a site and add data to your project.
Create a site
You will explore the area around Salt Lake City, Utah, and determine where there is higher potential for recreational spending and pickleball activity. In this section, you will perform a points of interest search to map places such as recreation centers, parks, and sporting goods stores.
- In the search bar, type salt lake city and press Enter.
The map zooms to Salt Lake City, Utah.
- On the ribbon, click Define areas and choose Select geography.
The Select geography pane appears.
- In the Select geography pane, click Select from map.
- In the next pane, choose Counties.
- Click the map where Salt Lake City is located.
Business Analyst finds the county Salt Lake City is in, which is also named Salt Lake.
- At the bottom of the Select geography pane, click Finish and click I'm Done.
- On the map, zoom out so you can see the entire county.
You have defined Salt Lake County as a site in Business Analyst. Next, you will map points of interest within your site.
Add points of interest
You will start by using the points of interest (POI) search workflow to find facilities such as recreation centers.
- On the Maps tab, click Create maps and choose Points of interest (POI) search.
The Points of interest (POI) search pane appears.
- In the Geography section, expand Current map extent. Under Analysis extent, click Current map extent.
- In the list of options, click Your sites.
The Add sites window appears.
- In the Add sites window, check the box for Salt Lake City, UT and click Apply.
Salt Lake County, UT is added to Analysis extent in the Points of interest (POI) search pane.
- Under the Search section, click Search by keyword, category and more.
- In the pane that appears, ensure the Keyword tab is selected and in the search bar, type recreation center and press Enter.
The results appear on the map and in the interactive Results pane.
With interactive charts, you can see the results of the search and highlight the recreation centers within the Industry Description section.
- On the Summary tab of the Results pane, use the horizontal scroll bar to scroll until you see the Top 5 Industry Description section.
Recreation Centers is the largest Industry Description.
Pickleball requires a pickleball court, which are often located in recreation centers. Therefore, you are interested in locations that are exclusively recreation centers, and not other types of locations such as swimming pools and parks. You will filter your results for only the Recreation Centers industry description results.
- In the Points of interest (POI) search pane, in the Filters section, click Show filters. Expand the All Industry Description section and check the box for Recreation Centers.
- At the bottom of the Points of interest (POI) search pane, click Save layer.
- In the Save layer window, name the layer Rec Centers Salt Lake County.
The saved layer can be accessed in the project pane under the Points of interest (POI) layers section.
Next, you will add a demographic layer to the project.
Add consumer behavior data
In addition to places, Business Analyst also provides demographic data. You will create a map that shows the areas in the county where people are spending more on recreational goods compared to their neighbors.
You will create a map that shows consumer behavior related to spending for recreational sporting goods within your project area. This will help you determine areas where potential customers for pickleball sporting goods are located in your area.
- On the Maps tab, click Create maps and choose Color-coded maps.
The Color-coded maps pane appears.
- At the bottom of the pane, click Browse all variables to use the data browser to search for variables.
The Data browser window appears.
The data browser is an in-app interface that displays historical, current, and projected demographic data from authoritative sources. It covers categories such as age, behavior, education, and more. You can explore more than 17,000 variables in the data browser.
Note:
Learn more about variables in the data browser by exploring Data in Business Analyst.
- On the Standard variables tab, click Spending.
In the Spending category, you can use subcategory filters to find the variable you're interested in. You can also search for keywords to find a relevant variable. The Spending data category provides information about people's expenditures in specific retail categories.
Note:
Learn more about the Spending category.
- To filter the results, click the
Keyword drop-down menu and enter sports in the Enter any keyword field. Press Enter on your keyboard to implement the search filter.
- In the list of results, use the 2024 Sports/Rec/Exercise Equipment variable. Next to the variable, click Index. Click the variable name to select it for the analysis.
The index of the 2024 Sports/Rec/Exercise Equipment variable is the estimated spending of households for sporting goods in an area compared to the national average. An index value of over 100 indicates that the given area is spending more on sporting goods compared to the national average.
Tip:
You can learn more about any of the variables in the data browser by hovering over the Info button for a variable.
The data is added to the map for the entire United States.
You will adjust the geography extent of the data so you can focus on your county of interest.
- In the Color-coded maps pane, in the Geography section, use the Analysis extent drop-down menu and click Your sites.
- In the Add sites window, check the box for Salt Lake County, UT, and click Apply.
The analysis extent is set to only show data within Salt Lake County.
Business Analyst automatically detects that the level of detail needed is no longer the county level, but the block level, and updates the color-coded map accordingly.
Next, you will filter the results to show the areas that are above the national average.
- In the Color-coded maps pane, under Variables, for 2024 Sports/Rec/Exercise Equipment (Index), expand Show filter.
A histogram appears where you can filter for the range of values that will be visible on the map. You will adjust the histogram so only the block groups where there is higher than average spending on sporting goods are visible.
- For the lower range, type 100 and press Enter.
The map filters to only show counties where the index value for spending on sports, recreational, and exercise equipment is above the national average.
You now have a map showing spending behavior for sports, recreation, and exercise equipment and the locations of recreation centers in your county of interest.
- At the bottom of the Color-coded maps pane, click Save layer. In the Save layer window, click OK.
The new layer is created and saved in the project under the Color-coded map layers section.
- Close the Color-coded maps pane.
Next, you will explore data using the app's artificial intelligence (AI) assistant, Business Analyst Assistant (Beta).
Use an assistant to generate a map
Next, you will explore the demand for the fastest-growing sport in the United States, pickleball, using Business Analyst Assistant (Beta). This capability is currently in beta, but available in Business Analyst Web App today. It uses large language models to recommend workflows, such as creating maps, locating points of interest, generating reports, and more.
Before you create a map layer, you will turn off the visibility for the sports equipment spending behavior layer.
- Expand the project pane. Uncheck the Color-coded map layer.
The layer is no longer visible on the map. With it no longer visible, you will be able to see the new map you are going to create using Business Analyst Assistant (Beta).
- On the app header, click Business Analyst Assistant (Beta).
The Assistant (Beta) window appears.
Business Analyst Assistant (Beta) helps new users learn how to use Business Analyst Web App and guides existing users in increasing their productivity. Business Analyst Assistant (Beta) uses a large language model that interprets your intent in order to suggest workflows. The tool offers suggestions for performing workflows, which you can select.
Note:
Learn more about Business Analyst Assistant (Beta), including more information about data security, privacy, and limitations by exploring Business Analyst Assistant (Beta) reference.
- In the Assistant (Beta) window, click the suggested prompt Map income in.
The suggested prompt appears with key text highlighted in green. You can change the green text to specify a map of people who have played pickleball in the past year within your area of interest.
- In the generated example prompt, replace income with pickleball and replace California with Salt Lake County.
- Click Generate to perform the query.
The Assistant pane appears and suggests creating a color-coded map of the variable Participated in Pickleball Last 12 Mo.
- In the Assistant (Beta) pane, under Suggestions, click Create map.
The color-coded map of Salt Lake County is generated.
Tip:
Do not close the Assistant (Beta) window yet. Use Display options to select a dock default. Click Floating so that you can click and drag the window around.
Tip:
If the Assistant AI generated color-coded map extent is not as expected, you can adjust it in the following steps.
Business Analyst Assistant (Beta) can also provide helpful tips, like how to change the analysis extent.
The resulting map includes block groups in the current map extent, which extends beyond Salt Lake County. You will use the assistant to learn how to change the extent of the mapped data.
- In the Assistant (Beta) pane, under Tips, click How do I change the analysis extent.
The Analysis extent section in the color-coded maps pane is highlighted and a tip appears.
- In the Change the analysis extent tip window, click OK to close the tip.
Next, you will add another analysis extent to the analysis.
- Click the search bar for Analysis extent and type Utah County. Click Utah County, UT in the list of results.
Utah County, UT adds to the Analysis extent and within seconds, the results of pickleball activity appear on the map across the two counties.
Next, you will choose a different color ramp.
- In the Assistant (Beta) pane, under Tips, click View more. Choose How do I change the map colors?
- The tip highlights the Show style options button under Style in the Color-coded maps pane.
- In the Style options pane, for Color ramp, choose the green to blue ramp.
- Zoom in to the central north area of Salt Lake County, around Salt Lake City.
What do you notice about the location of recreation centers and the amount of pickleball activity?
This tutorial explored economic opportunities for pickleball in Utah, but ArcGIS Business Analyst data is available nationally and internationally.
- On the top ribbon of Business Analyst Web App, click the Data source drop-down menu.
There is data available in 170 countries.
Note:
Business Analyst Assistant (Beta) is currently only available in English.
Consider going through this workflow in another part of the United States or explore another business opportunity in another part of the globe.
Next, you will generate infographics which can be used as marketing or project planning materials for your target market area.
Generate infographics
Infographics in Business Analyst Web App allow you to visualize key indicators and information for your sites. You can run prebuilt templates or build and run custom infographic templates that contain elements such as charts, graphics, tables, images, and text.
- On the ribbon, click Pickleball Market Research to view the project pane. Uncheck any visible layers except My geographies.
The Salt Lake County, UT site appears in the map with a pop-up.
- In the pop-up, click Infographics.
A default infographic generates. You can choose different infographics based on common topics.
- At the top of the window, for Infographic, choose What's in My Community?
The infographic generates.
There are many preconfigured infographics you can run to generate informative and compelling graphics on your site.
Next, you will create an infographic using a custom template designed for pickleball market behavior and demand.
- Close the infographic window.
- On the top ribbon, click Reports. On the Reports tab, click Build infographics.
The infographic builder appears.
- Download and extract the zip file containing a custom infographic template.
- On the Build reports tab, click Add template from file.
- Browse to the location where you unzipped the Recreation Demand and Behavior template file; the extension is .brpt.
- In the Save infographic window, accept the default name and click Save.
The My templates tab appears with the uploaded infographic template.
The template is now available to use.
- Click the Maps tab.
- On the map, click the Salt Lake County, UT, site to open the pop-up menu. Click Infographics.
- In the Infographic window, for Infographic, click the drop-down menu.
- In the Infographic menu, collapse the Standard infographics section. Under My infographics, click Recreation Demand and Behavior.
The custom infographic generates.
The infographic includes standard information such as population data. But custom infographics were included specific to your pickleball sporting goods business, such as spending behavior on recreational goods, and recreational activity for your specific site. The infographic was also designed to look like a pickleball court.
Now you can share this infographic with your business partners and associates to better plan and make presentations as you expand your pickleball equipment business.
Note:
If you are interested in learning how to design a custom infographic, try the Design infographics in ArcGIS Business Analyst tutorial.
In this tutorial, you learned how to search for points of interest, create a color-coded map, and enrich your analysis with demographic data using Business Analyst Web App. You explored Business Analyst Assistant (Beta), using suggested prompts and tips to create a map showing pickleball activity in your area of interest.
There are thousands of variables on millions of places. This data is available nationally and internationally. With access to this data in Business Analyst Web App, you can analyze anything, such as recreation business demand. You can learn about any area from the local, to the national, and even the global scale. With this data, you can create your maps and find your next opportunity.
You can find more tutorials in the tutorial gallery.