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Weather can impact both big and small businesses. If you run a large construction company, then an accurate rainfall forecast may help you decide on a concrete pour. Similarly, if you run a small restaurant, you wouldn’t want to have too many items on the menu if you know a storm or heavy rain is approaching in your area.
Businesses Dependent on Weather Forecast
Traditionally a few businesses have depended on weather forecasts for smooth functioning.
Aviation
Accurate weather forecast is an important aspect of the aviation industry. Aviation meteorology is a separate field of study that deals with the weather requirements specific to the aviation industry.. 20-30% of air accidents and 22% of air traffic delays are due to adverse weather conditions. Therefore, weather data is important to avoid hazards related to thunderstorms, icing conditions, lightning, fog condition, cloud situation, and rainfall. They also require information about turbulence, visibility, and wind shear.
Airline companies also decide the amount of fuel consumption depending on the weather forecast. In 1985, weather forecast was first used by Qantas airways and this helped them save their fuel consumption by $19-30 million per year. Qantas still uses weather forecasts and has an in-house meteorology department. Qantas airways checks the weather forecast for up to 72 hours before the flight departs.
Transport Industry
Similar to aviation, transport and railways are also dependent on weather forecasts. They schedule train or bus timings depending on the forecast of heavy rain, snowfall, flooding, or cyclone.
Construction
Weather forecast helps this industry also. They need to know the wind speed forecast to operate a crane. Humidity, rainfall, wind speed etc help them plan their brick and plaster work. Weather forecasts also decides their material purchasing. There is no point exposing materials to rain or snow. They plan purchase as per weather predictions.
Travel and Tourism
Travel and tourism is impacted by weather. A ski resort would look at the snowfall forecast to plan their occupancy. A beach resort would be impacted if there is a tsunami in the region. Hotel industry has seasonal crowd and most hotels decide their tariffs depending on the weather.
How Businesses can benefit from Accurate Weather Forecast Apps
Apart from the conventional businesses that use weather forecasts, other industries can also leverage a free weather forecast service to increase their sales. Small businesses can improve their sales by taking decisions based on weather forecasts. However, most businesses are still unaware of the benefit of weather forecast apps.
Inventory management
Weather forecast apps can be extremely helpful in the retail and hotel industry. They can use forecasts to stock up products appropriate to the weather. A small restaurant can use it to know on which day they need to prepare more meals. If they know beforehand that there is going to be a snowstorm then they can prepare less.
Supply Chain Management
E-commerce giant Amazon relies on weather forecasts to manage their delivery schedules and supply chain. Nowadays businesses are heavily dependent on global supply chains. If one chain is broken then the consequences are faced by all. Weather forecast apps can help small businesses know if their shipment is going to be delayed due to a weather hazard. It can help them plan better.
Marketing Campaigns
Weather affects the mood of the buyers which then influences their marketing decision. Therefore, weather forecast apps can be used to design marketing campaigns. Knowing the weather in advance can help businesses promote them.
British clothing company ASDA launched a campaign called ‘real summer days’ where they created a weather-triggered landing page on their website. There are several more examples of how brands used weather to launch marketing campaigns.
Asset Management
Weather forecasts can help businesses manage their assets both in terms of property and human resources better. Businesses can shut down if they know of an impending storm. Keeping the employees safe is also important. Knowing in advance can help businesses protect their employees from natural disasters.
Insurance Claims
Having an idea about the weather can help a small business get the right insurance. If your business is located in a cyclone-prone or tsunami-prone area then getting a fair idea about when the next cyclone is going to hit can help you plan your insurance accordingly.
Cater to the mood
You may find it surprising that even streaming services can use weather forecast apps. Weather impacts the mood of people. Streaming services can schedule happy movies or music for a bright and sunny day while stream somber stuff on cold winter nights.
