Companies in the franchise, manufacturing, fast-moving consumer goods, distribution and finance sectors can now use a new internet-based computer service by MapData Sciences to plan the location of new stores, manage sales territories and develop targeted media strategies.

An updated version of Tactician Online Australia, the new Tactician online marketing and advertising system includes data on Australian roads and Census data on internet use, including day- and night-time population statistics.

Launched in Australia last year, vendors such as Shopsmart – a national customer rewards program being developed by Adelaide-based company, Galaxy Rewards Pty Ltd – have already adopted the software.

“Tactician allows us to easily map all of Australia into 20 territories and smaller postcode or Census district sales areas for a comprehensive demographic picture of each area. As the rollout of our program proceeds we can easily perform numerous ‘what if’ scenarios,” said Shopsmart general manager, David Floyd.

“Tactician’s Power Reports are a key tool in marketing our CRM and rewards program. The combination of printed maps and comprehensive business and Census data makes it easy to present to prospective investors, operators and sales people alike.”

According to Floyd, Shopsmart recouped its investment in Tactician Online after the first month of use. He also said the software is intuitive and user-friendly, and will play a significant ongoing role for the company by providing site-specific business and marketing data to member merchants.

According to MapData, the annual fee for the hosted service puts it within reach of small organisations along with larger ones.

The service can be accessed via the internet, with the required software and data hosted on secure servers at MapData Sciences, meaning users don’t need to license the software or acquire new or special hardware to run the application, according to the company.

MapData Sciences says the program can be accessed within “a matter of minutes”, with marketing and planning applications available in this short time, opposed to “the typically long learning curve and high costs associated with competitive solutions.”