Add New Location

Enter a valid UK Postcode or coordinate pair (Lat, Lng) to place a location precisely, or leave blank to drop it in the centre of the screen.

Place Location

Import Locations (CSV)

Upload a CSV file to generate multiple companies and locations simultaneously. The CSV headers must exact match the following format:

• Company (Required) - e.g., 'Tesco'
• Location (Required) - e.g., 'EC3A 7AW' or '51.51, -0.07'
• Name (Optional) - Store identifier or location name
• Volume (Optional) - Revenue or capacity (Defaults to 100)

Settings

Market Dynamics

Calculate Market Share using Distance/Time Weighting

If disabled, market shares are calculated simply as total allied volume divided by total volume within the catchment area, regardless of distance or travel time.

Travel-Time Catchments

Use drive/walk/cycle time instead of straight-line distance

Node Scaling (Visual)

Set the volume thresholds that define the minimum (16px) and maximum (80px) size of location nodes on the map.

Display Options

Enable Light Mode Theme Always show Location Names on Map Show Numbers inside Location Circles Display company cards only for selected local market Always show Market Shares on Map Apply Changes

Simulator Controls & Features

Map & Navigation

• Pan & Zoom: Click and drag the map, scroll, or use pinch-to-zoom.
• Select Locations: Click a marker or its sidebar row to view its catchment and the distance (or travel time) to competitors. Hold Ctrl/Cmd to select multiple.
• Centre Map: Use the crosshair icon in the bottom toolbar to snap back to the starting view.

Adding & Editing Locations

• Move Locations: Drag coloured markers directly on the map.
• Add via Location: Click "+ Location" on a company card to place via a UK postcode or Lat/Lng.
• Import CSV: Use the upload button to bulk-import locations and volumes.
• Quick Drop: Double-click empty map space to instantly drop a new location.
• Adjust Volume (Fast): Hover over any map marker and scroll your mouse wheel to change volume by 10, or edit the number in the sidebar.

Company Cards

• Rename: Double-click a company name.
• Reorder: Use the arrows beside the name to move a card up or down.
• Colour: Click the colour swatch beside the name.
• Local market view: Tick "Display company cards only for selected local market" in Settings to list only the companies and sites inside the selected location's catchment (Ctrl/Cmd-click to combine several). With nothing selected, no cards are shown.

M&A and Remedies

• Mergers: Click the chain icon on a company card, then click another company's chain icon to merge.
• Divestitures: Drag a location row from one company card and drop it onto another to transfer ownership.

Market Parameters (Bottom Toolbar)

• Mode Toggle: Switch between Market Share (%) and Fascia Count (#) modes. Fascia mode evaluates the number of distinct competitors within the catchment area.
• Threshold: Adjust the Safe Harbor threshold. Locations triggering this threshold will flag a warning and pulse red.
• Radius / Time: Adjust the catchment: kilometres for straight-line distance, or minutes for travel time.
• Shuffle: Generate a completely random local market scenario!

Travel-Time Catchments

By default catchments use straight-line distance. To use real drive, walk or cycle times:

• In Settings, tick "Use drive/walk/cycle time" and paste a free OpenRouteService API key.
• New, moved or imported locations (and all locations after switching travel mode) show Pending… (and "?" in the sidebar) until travel times are fetched. Click the refresh button at the end of the bottom toolbar; its badge shows how many locations need updating.
• Changing the time limit (up to 180 minutes) reuses travel times already fetched, so results update instantly. Catchment outlines are fetched for nearby limits too; if one isn't loaded yet, a selected location shows a dashed circle until the next refresh.
• OpenRouteService can only draw driving outlines up to 60 minutes. Above that, shares, distance lines and exports still use real drive times, but no outline is shown.
• Pairs of locations too far apart to be reachable within the limit are skipped without using any requests. The cut-off for each travel mode can be changed in Settings; it applies at the 180-minute maximum and scales down for shorter limits.
• Large refreshes are paced to the free plan's per-minute limits. Click the button again to stop; results so far are kept.
• Locations with no road within ~350 m for the chosen travel mode show N/A.

Exports

• Download CSV: Saves all locations in the import format.
• Detailed Matrix: Saves every location paired with each neighbour in its catchment, with distances, travel times, weights and shares.

The Math of Local Overlap Analysis

In competition economics, authorities evaluate retail mergers by analyzing specific geographic catchments.

1. The Catchment Area (Isochrone)

We define a local market by a maximum distance (Dmax in kilometres) or, with travel-time catchments enabled, a maximum travel time (in minutes), representing how far a consumer is willing to travel.

2. Distance Weighting

Competitors located right next door exert massive pressure, while competitors on the edge of the catchment exert very little. We use straight-line distance (d) from the Haversine formula, or the travel time from OpenRouteService, and weight each store's volume:

A store is always 0 distance from itself, so its own volume has full weight.

3. Calculating Market Share

To find a specific location's local market share, we take its volume, add the weighted volume of all allied stores in range, and divide it by the total weighted volume of ALL stores in range. With weighting disabled, every weight is 1.

4. Fascia Counting (Alternative Mode)

Instead of calculating volume shares, this mode simply counts the number of distinct corporate entities (fascias) operating within the catchment area, including the target location. Authorities often use "4-to-3" or "3-to-2" fascia reduction screens as an initial indicator of local market concentration.