Data Methodology · Shopping & Retail
Shopping & Retail Data Source
How the ImaginaMalta retail directory is built: data sourcing, category normalisation, locality mapping, deduplication and indexation policy.
OpenStreetMap source
The ImaginaMalta retail directory is derived entirely from OpenStreetMap (OSM), a free and open global map database maintained by a community of contributors. Retail locations are extracted using OSM tags: shop=* and related commercial amenity tags.
All coordinates are GPS-verified positions from the OSM dataset. No manual geocoding is applied.
What data is included
- Place name
- canonical_name from OSM name= tag
- Coordinates
- latitude/longitude from OSM geometry centroid
- Address
- addr:street, addr:housenumber from OSM where available (partial coverage)
- Category
- Normalised from OSM shop= tag into 14 canonical categories
- Locality
- Derived from OSM administrative boundary containing the point
- Website
- contact:website or website= tag where available in OSM
- Phone
- contact:phone or phone= tag where available in OSM
Category normalisation
OSM uses granular shop=* values. These are mapped to 14 canonical categories:
- Supermarkets
- Grocery Stores
- Convenience Stores
- Shopping Malls
- Markets
- Butchers
- Fishmongers
- Greengrocers
- Hardware Stores
- Pet Shops
- Bookshops
- Electronics Stores
- Clothing Stores
- Souvenir Shops
Locality mapping
Each retail place is assigned to a Malta locality (village or town) using OSM administrative boundary containment. Locality slugs are matched against the ImaginaMalta PLACES registry (64 localities matched). Places outside recognised boundaries are excluded.
Deduplication
Duplicate OSM entries (same name, same coordinates within 20 m) are merged into a single record. Chain stores with multiple branches retain individual records per location.
What this directory does not include
- Prices or price comparisons
- Stock availability or inventory
- Promotions, offers or discounts
- Delivery availability or delivery zones
- Live or guaranteed opening hours
- User reviews, ratings or recommendations
- Parking availability or parking fees
- Official store locator completeness guarantees
- Affiliate or sponsored placement
No place in this directory is ranked, recommended or described as "best", "top" or "cheapest". This is a location reference only.
Closed and unverified places
OSM records with disused:shop=* or abandoned:shop=* tags are excluded. Records without a verified name are excluded. All included records were present in OSM as of the snapshot date below.
Corrections
If you notice a missing location or inaccurate data, the best way to fix it is to edit OpenStreetMap directly. Changes will be incorporated in the next data snapshot.
Attribution & licence
Contains information from OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the Open Database Licence (ODbL 1.0).
Last updated: 20 June 2026