Local businesses are putting themselves on the map. Literally.
Small retailers across the country are taking advantage of a technology that lets them upload floor plans of their stores to mapping apps and other online services. That means the stores show up in searches if customers call up a map that shows local businesses. Customers can also use the floor plans to get a look inside the store beforehand—or figure out where the store is, if it's located inside a larger building, like a mall.
Some retailers are going a step further and adding more data and more capabilities to those maps. Customers can do things like search the store's inventory remotely or enter a shopping list and have an app map the best route for them to take around the store.
Big mapping players—such as Nokia Corp. and Google Inc.—have been working on these applications for several years, as have many data and analytics providers. It has taken a while to pick up speed because there needed to be enough mapping data, enough people with smartphones and enough Wi-Fi networks to make it all work.
Now that's starting to happen. Businesses can simply upload their floor plans to Google and Nokia, or any of a number of indoor navigation apps, for free inclusion. Then when people search, for instance, Google Maps or their car's navigation system, the store shows up on the map and they get a visual cue that they can find their way around inside, too. For more detail, stores can let customers see what products they have available by feeding their inventory data to an app like aisle411 or Retailigence that works with mobile shopping services.
To be sure, big stores are using this technology too. But small retailers say it can be particularly useful for them as they try to get an edge on big competitors and the Internet.
"Great customer service is an important differentiator for us, so offering our customers options for shopping with their mobile devices and the ability to reserve online for in-store pickup helps us deliver on that promise," says Mike Baranov, director of online operations for Footwear etc., which feeds its product information to Retailigence. "Having mobile shopping options that help us bring more customers in-store helps us compete on a more even footing with e-commerce retailers."
Ms. Westervelt is a writer in Oakland, Calif. She can be reached at reports@wsj.com.