Have you ever wanted to know:

  • How to measure your sales against your competition?
  • Are your customers able to find your brand in their favorite store?
  • How to maximize trade spending?
  • Do your promotions take customers from your competition?
  • How to get your retail partners to value you as a category expert?
  • Who buys your products?

The right data can help answer these questions and so much more.
Data can be extremely confusing but it doesn't need to be. Think of data as business intelligence. What are your needs and objectives? What questions do you want answered? This will give you a roadmap and help us determine where to start.

There are several kinds and sources of data available to manufacturers:

Internal data: This includes your shipment data (data that tracks the movement of your products to distributors and retailers), your promotional data (trade spending including all the costs associated with a promotion), and inventory data (your inventory of products ready to be shipped).

External data: This includes syndicated data, consumer/shopper data, retailer point of sale data (POS), and distributor/wholesaler data, etc.

Syndicated data:  This is purchased sales transaction data collected directly from certain retailers for resale. It allows you to compare your items with competitors. Syndicated data allows you to monitor your sales at the category, brand, at the item level in a retailer, market, region, and channel. This data is usually very expensive and it can be confusing to use and understand at first. This is largely because the data is very robust.

Consumer data: This includes shopper buying habits, customer usage, loyalty, trends, and insights.

Wholesaler/Distributor data:  This typically only just your brand and your items. It is especially useful in analyzing promotions and managing item sell through.

All of these data sources should be combined and used to augment and support the other data sources. Data can be used in several ways. These articles will help you make sense of these different resources to help you get the most from them.

The right data can be a virtual goldmine for your company.  Don’t settle for inferior data that doesn't completely meet the needs of your growing business.

Dan's mission is “Empowering Brands and Raising The Bar”.  His weekly newsletter, educational podcast and training courses have become an invaluable resource for brands and retailers seeking a competitive advantage.  To learn more or connect with Dan, visit BrandSecretsandStrategies.com or email dan@cms4cpg.com.

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