Catchment areas

The catchment area is an essential piece of information when starting a business or opening a new location. It allows you to visualize the geographical area of influence of a location and assess its potential. Visually, a catchment area is represented as an isochrone zone, i.e. the area which can be reached from a location, given a specific travel time.

Catchment area
Example of an isochrone map (1-hour drive from Toulouse)

A catchment area is usually separated into several time areas, to determine several sectors of attractivity: primary, secondary and tertiary.

For example:

  • Primary Sector: 5 minutes by car
  • Secondary Sector: 15 minutes by car
  • Tertiary Sector: 30 minutes by car

Travel times and modes of transportation for each sector depend heavily on the business activity. For each activity sector, a different rate of attractivity is generated to assess the population which the area can attract; i.e. the percentage of people in the area who might visit the location. With these data, and by studying the competition in each sector, it is then possible to assess the potential of the new venture.

Example of three sectors in a catchment area.

Draw a catchment area

With Oalley, it is possible to generate and visualize catchment areas for various modes of transportation (on foot, bicycle, car, public transport…) for free. Furthermore, the interactive map lets you easily explore these areas. To draw your catchment area, go to the map.

See your catchment area for free

Go a step further with the Pro version

Example of a OALLEY report

The Pro version of Oalley enables you to obtain key data about the sectors you survey; here are some examples of the data you can access about a catchment area:

  • Number of inhabitants in the isochrone zone
  • Distribution by gender
  • Population age
  • Employment
  • Housing

With this information, it is then possible to very quickly assess the potential of a new location. If you require more information, feel free to contact us.