Consumer data spotlight: SafeGraph POI and spend data for academic research

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SafeGraph's Point of Interest and spend datasets cut across disciplines in ways most researchers don't expect. POI data maps the physical landscape of businesses and consumer visits. Spend data shows what people are actually buying, where, and when. Together, they give you a ground-level view of how economies and communities work in practice.

• Economics — measure real-world effects of minimum wage increases, fiscal stimulus, or price shocks at the consumer level; track business openings, closures, and foot traffic shifts as economic conditions change
• Urban planning — map spending patterns and movement flows across neighborhoods to understand how cities actually function, where investment lands, and who gets left out
• Political science — analyze how economic conditions and place-based factors shape voting behavior, policy support, or civic engagement
• Business & strategy — benchmark market share, track competitor foot traffic and performance, and study how pricing or store changes affect consumer behavior
• Marketing — measure real spend lift from campaigns, segment audiences by actual purchasing behavior, and understand cross-category trends tied to physical location

Nathan Kobinsky from SafeGraph will walk through the methodology behind both datasets and how researchers are applying them across fields. Then, Hitanshu Pandit, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Northeastern, will share findings from his recent paper Who Pays for Higher Wages? Evidence from Consumer Spending after California's Fast-Food Minimum Wage Increase, a concrete example of the data in action.

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