How to Interpret Fields and Sections in Report Outputs?

SCOUT report outputs can include several fields that describe how customers are distributed within a selected study area and across individual locations.

Understanding the difference between Count in Study Area, Percent of Study Area, Location Total, and Location Percentage can help you interpret the results and understand how much of a location's customer base falls within the geography you're analyzing.

This article explains what each field represents and how to interpret the Actual Customers section of a report.

Count in Study Area represents the number of people associated with a location who fall within the selected study area.

For example, if your study area is a 10-minute drive time, this field shows the number of people associated with the location who are within that 10-minute geography.

Use this value to understand how much of a location's customer base is represented within the area you're analyzing.

Percent of Study Area represents the share of all people within the study area who are associated with a particular location.

The percentages for the locations included in this section total 100%, providing a percentage-based view of how the people within the study area are distributed across those locations.

Location Total represents the total number of people associated with a location, regardless of whether they fall within the selected study area. Unlike Count in Study Area, this value is not limited by the geography or drive time used for the report. It provides the complete count associated with the location.

Location Percentage represents the percentage of a location's total associated people who fall within the selected study area.

It is calculated as:

Count in Study Area ÷ Location Total = Location Percentage

For example, if a location has 500 people in the study area and a Location Total of 1,000, the Location Percentage is 50%.

Use this value to understand how much of the location's overall customer base is captured within the geography you're analyzing.

The Actual Customers section shows the number of your customers located within the selected geography.

Use this section to understand how many known customers fall within a particular study area and evaluate the geographic distribution of your existing customer base.

For example, when analyzing a drive-time geography around a location, Actual Customers can help you understand how many customers are located within that defined area.

The key difference between these fields is the population or geography each value uses as its reference point.

Count in Study Area tells you how many people associated with a location are inside the selected geography. Percent of Study Area shows that location's share of all applicable people within the study area.

Location Total represents the complete number of people associated with the location, while Location Percentage shows what percentage of that location's total falls within the selected study area.

Understanding these differences can help you determine whether you're evaluating the composition of the study area or the geographic distribution of a specific location's customer base.