Nielsen Now Offers Grocers Earlier Access to Market Data

Nielsen has launched what it calls the “earliest read into the retail and consumer goods marketplace” through its new Friday morning data delivery, with the intent of helping companies identify and move faster on market trends.

The new service is provided to reduce the wait time for weekly retail sales performance data, which, industry-wide, often carries through the weekend and into the early days of the following week. Retailers and CPGs now can access data on volume, market share, distribution, price and promotion metrics across all of Nielsen’s Total U.S. All Outlets Combined (xAOC) channels, inclusive of grocery stores, drug stores, mass merchandisers, select dollar stores, select warehouse clubs and military commissaries.

Access to the enhanced data delivery option will enable both retailers and manufacturers to end the week more informed, to strategize more effectively for the week ahead, and to stay in front of competitors through quick, data-driven decisions.

“Now more than ever, speed of data is imperative.  Earlier data delivery leads to faster data-driven actions,” said John Tavolieri, president of U.S. FMCG and retail and chief technology and operations officer at Schaumburg, Ill.-based Nielsen. “For all companies navigating the current dynamic business environment, every day counts.”

To demonstrate the new service, Nielsen shared a first look into this year's July 4. Leading up to this year’s Independence Day, brick-and-mortar sales across U.S. fast-moving consumer goods were up nearly 1 percent year over year, reaching $15.2 billion. Unit volume, however, did not follow, and the market this week remains driven by inflationary factors. 

"On aggregate, non-food products are seeing the largest uptick in price this week, whereas food categories across bakery, deli, frozen and seafood categories have seen more balanced growth across both dollars and units," Nielsen stated. "Soft drinks are one example of a category where we’ve seen average prices climb this week: up 2 percent year over year."