In October last year, we partnered Indian Searce as a step in intensifying our presence in the Asian Pacific market. The indoor location market in Asia Pacific is expected to grow 40.8 percent CAGR from 2017-2023, and with the partnership, we’ve stepped up to meet the increasing demand.
Today, less than six months after announcing our partnership, our indoor navigation platform, MapsIndoors, is already in high demand among large venues in the APAC region, and we recently hosted our very first event in Asia together with Searce and Google Maps Singapore.
The well-visited event was a roundtable meetup about the future of indoor navigation. First, Nicola Dalmazzon, Channel Head - ASEAN at Google Maps, guided the participants through Location Intelligence followed by an introduction of Searce by Kapil Sharma, Senior Director - Cloud Consulting at Searce. Afterwards, Regional Sales Manager at MapsPeople, Christian Müggler gave a presentation of MapsIndoors and its possibilities.
“When you expand into a new market, solid partnerships with talented companies that know and understand the market are invaluable,'' says Christian Müggler, Regional Sales Manager at MapsPeople. “My trip to Asia allowed me to visit three of Searce’s offices in Pune, Mumbai, and Bangalore, meet their employees, and build a good relationship with both them and Google Maps Singapore, who has already reached out to their network and set up several meetings with interesting venues in Asia Pacific.”
The Asian region is a major player in the digital revolution. Asian consumers are forward-thinking and have high expectations to omnichannel experiences, which the numbers below indicates
- 86 percent of centennials in Southeast Asia are likely to have their first encounter with the products they will purchase online compared to 67 percent of shoppers globally
- 80 percent of smartphone users in Hong Kong have purchased a brand they wouldn’t normally consider because of relevant information shown to them on their smartphones
- 92 percent of smartphone users in Indonesia are more likely to buy from companies whose mobile sites or apps help them easily find answers to their questions. And in India, 87 percent of smartphone users are more likely to buy from companies whose mobile sites or apps allow them to make purchases quickly
- 88 percent of smartphone users have used a store locator in India and Singapore
As MapsIndoors is built with Google Maps technology, it offers a seamless transition from outdoor navigation to indoor navigation. Users can easily navigate from anywhere outside a venue to a specific destination inside a shopping mall, convention center, university, or the like. This makes it the perfect tool to create an omnichannel experience that leads consumers from their phones to the store, where they’re likely to make a purchase based on the facts above.
Does this means that MapsIndoors is only interesting for the Asian Pacific retail industry? No, not at all. While the numbers may come from a retail study, I think you’ll agree with me when I say that we turn to our phones for all kinds of information. Whether you’re researching a specific product, a convention, or a university, you turn to your smartphone, and the site that gives you the best and most assisting experience, wins your attention and eventually your visit. That’s one of the reasons indoor navigation rapidly gains ground and the demand for indoor wayfinding solutions is overwhelming.
“At MapsPeople we’ve always covered the world and had customers worldwide, but last year we intensified our efforts in the US with our office in Austin, Texas, and now we’re doing the same in Asia Pacific with our partnership with Searce. Both in the US and in Asia Pacific the interest in MapsIndoors is mindblowing, and it’s very motivating to experience the growth of the market, work with so many interesting customers, and help them bring inspiring projects to life”, says Christian Frederiksen, Head of MapsIndoors at MapsPeople.
Discover more about MapsIndoors and its possibilities below.
April 11, 2019
