Syndicated data, also called “consumption data,” is one of the key types of retail sales data you should know about. Starting from product-level data and expanding to the market level, syndicated retail data for brick-and-mortar stores measures consumer behavior based on environment and competition. Syndicated data allows non-retailers who are affected by sales, such as manufacturers or brokers, to understand the consumer market. Competitors or new-to-market companies also benefit from syndicated store data because the information helps them manage pricing and inventory.

Syndicated data compiles a series of points, including the price and time a product was purchased and the various in-store conditions influencing the sale. Rather than basic quantity and revenue data, syndicated retail data provides information about consumer behavior for almost any major market or retail category. With this pool of data, retailers can better predict sales trends, study the competition and manage both pricing and distribution. Syndicated data helps brands position their marketing campaigns more effectively and boost their conversion rate by improving the consumer experience.

Providers

There are three primary vendors of syndicated retail data: IRI, Nielson and SPINS. IRI and Nielson service retailers in the food, drug, mass, club, military and convenience sectors, while SPINS focuses on natural or specialty foods and grocers.

Accuracy

When it comes to accuracy, the catch with syndicated vendors is that they don’t provide data for all retailers or all products when they consolidate their data. Some retailers choose not to provide store data to IRI, Nielson or SPINS.  Whole Foods, in fact, decided not to provide data for a decade, which didn’t sit well with everyone: [Whole Foods link]  These vendors also tend to neglect data for general grocery and home and garden categories in mass merchandisers.

Cost

There are ways to obtain data at no cost, such as data exchange or general press, but syndicated data offers greater detail, so it does require a financial investment. Vendor pricing can range from thousands for a single report to millions for ongoing data and software.

Other Operations

As mentioned before, there are various tools for low- or no-cost market research and data gathering, including trade publications or consumer surveys. Still, these options will not provide the same level of detail as a syndicated report. IRI, Nielsen and SPINS also offer syndicated panel data, while several large retailers provide retailer direct panel data. Finally, another option for data acquisition would be retailer direct store data. With retailer direct store data, researchers sacrifice competitive retailers or full category data.

Your in-store presentation should enable buyers to make a quick decision. Observa ensures that the representation of your brand and product is exactly what you want it to be across all of your locations.