Use Heatmaps to Fix Broken Processes

Youโ€™re collecting dataโ€”but are you using it to find whatโ€™s broken?

One of the most underrated tools in wholesale analytics is the heatmap. Whether itโ€™s tracking picker movement, order issues, or customer support queries, heatmaps help you visualise where things are going wrong.

Examples that work:

  • Warehouse heatmaps to show where pickers spend the most time (or backtrack the most).
  • Product heatmaps to highlight high-return or slow-moving SKUs.
  • Customer support heatmaps to reveal what days and times issues spike.
  • Website click heatmaps to find what content draws attentionโ€”and what gets ignored.

The beauty of a heatmap is how quickly it shows concentration of activity. You donโ€™t need to trawl through rows of dataโ€”it jumps off the screen.

And once you see it? You can act:

  • Move high-frequency SKUs closer together
  • Review layout and walk routes
  • Spot training gaps based on error hotspots
  • Optimise pick paths or support cover times

If you want to improve efficiency, start with a visual. Because when you can see the pain points clearly, the fixes become obvious.

Donโ€™t just report the dataโ€”map it.