Lighthouse by BCG and Unacast Partner to Produce Holistic and Custom Human Mobility Data Solutions

BOSTON—The global data location market is both young and complex. A significant barrier to access for many end clients—including retailers, restaurateurs, investors, supply chain organizations, and others—is the fractured nature of the market, specifically, the need to acquire data from one source and consulting and solutions execution from another. Today, Unacast, a leading global location data and analytics company, and Lighthouse by BCG, Boston Consulting Group’s high-frequency data and analytics platform, announced the formation of a strategic partnership that will provide a holistic way to access data, services, and custom solutions all in one place.

With anonymized and aggregated data collected via GPS, Unacast records visits to a store, restaurant, or other location, providing insights into the days and times that it sees foot traffic, how much, and for how long. Lighthouse then works with BCG’s Retail Catalyst team to leverage that data for a variety of use cases, including real estate forecasting and optimization. With predictions of consumer demand at specific locations, clients can determine the best places to open new stores or restaurants or identify which of their existing locations should be retained and/or expanded.

Additional use cases include:

  • Restaurants deciding whether to focus their business models on delivery or dining in (such as during the pandemic)
  • Retailers or restaurants planning how to staff on specific days and at specific times
  • Retail or restaurant chains assessing cross-shopping behavior in order to compare performance at their own locations or that of their competitors

“We are pleased to be partnering with Unacast, whose industry-leading mobility data enables us to build predictive models and other forecasting and optimization tools that zero in on our clients’ specific needs and ultimately provide them with the bespoke solutions that they need to address their unique problems,” said Nicholas Goad, a managing director and partner at BCG.

“Lighthouse by BCG is a valuable global partner. Its specialization in data science and AI can help take Unacast’s data to a broader market, allowing the clean, aggregated data to inform insights that will help companies make better strategic decisions on a global scale,” said Thomas Walle, CEO and co-founder of Unacast.

In 2022, the partnership will continue to build on its expanding presence in international markets as well as in the US.

For more information, please contact Aaron Arnoldsen at Arnoldsen.Aaron@bcg.com.

For BCG media queries, please contact Eric Gregoire at +1 617 850 3783 or gregoire.eric@bcg.com.

For queries about Unacast, please contact Corey Eldridge at corey.eldridge@force4.co.

About Unacast   

Unacast is a human mobility data company committed to understanding how people move around on the planet. Sophisticated and data-driven commercial real estate professionals, retailers, researchers, analysts and data scientists use our Real World Graph®, the most accurate understanding of human activity in the physical world. Visit us online at www.unacast.com

About Boston Consulting Group

Boston Consulting Group partners with leaders in business and society to tackle their most important challenges and capture their greatest opportunities. BCG was the pioneer in business strategy when it was founded in 1963. Today, we work closely with clients to embrace a transformational approach aimed at benefiting all stakeholders—empowering organizations to grow, build sustainable competitive advantage, and drive positive societal impact.
 
Our diverse, global teams bring deep industry and functional expertise and a range of perspectives that question the status quo and spark change. BCG delivers solutions through leading-edge management consulting, technology and design, and corporate and digital ventures. We work in a uniquely collaborative model across the firm and throughout all levels of the client organization, fueled by the goal of helping our clients thrive and enabling them to make the world a better place.