NPD Unveils Checkout Tracking Service

US-based consumer and retail tracking provider The NPD Group has launched a new service called Checkout Tracking, which will provide information on consumer buying behaviour based on receipts for both online and in-store retail purchases.

The service aims to deliver item-level purchase information linked to the buyer and their demographics. Data is collected from large-scale longitudinal panels, making it possible to study the same consumers over time, analyze competitive market baskets, and identify purchase patterns. Both online and in-store purchases can be analysed at the item, brand and category level.

Checkout information is collected via patent-pending methods, classified using NPD's product dictionaries, and validated by the firm's benchmark databases, including syndicated point-of-sale tracking collected from 1200 retailer partners representing 165,000 stores worldwide.

Steve Coffey (pictured), Chief Innovation Officer, comments: 'Until now, there has been a gap in general merchandise retail industry knowledge as marketers have not been able to study consumer basket-level information across competitors and industries. Checkout combines the precision of retail tracking information with the consumer insight of a panel, exponentially increasing customer knowledge, and highlighting opportunities to increase market share and evaluate and improve discounts, promotions, and loyalty programs.'

Web site: www.npd.com .