Using Data in Retail Pitches with NielsenIQ

by Jenna Movsowitz

Pitching to retailers is a daunting task. While you have all the confidence that your brand is worth their precious shelf space, for every brand that comes in, a retailer is taking a major risk. Naturally, the buyer is risk-averse – so beyond wooing them, it’s on you to reassure them that you are a good bet.

This is where data comes in. It’s no secret that proving yourself is a numbers game. But the true challenge comes in knowing which numbers truly matter in the eyes of the buyer – and how you can source this data. We’ve partnered with NielsenIQ to help you understand these essential data questions. Their new tool, Byzzer Stories, takes all of the guesswork out of data and pulls the most important data in minutes to impress your retailer during the next review.

Category Management Example: POS Data

Category Management Example: Panel Data

UNDERSTANDING THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF DATA

What is Retail/POS Data?

POS data, or point-of-sale data, is transaction-level data collected at a retail store. You may recognize the word “POS” as the electronic system we often call a register. As the customer checks out, the data from each item scanned is logged into the retailer POS system and the retailer then sends that data to NielsenIQ. NielsenIQ then categorizes products and assigns attributes to provide you category benchmarks, competitor visibility, and item rankings. Learnings you can gain from retail/POS data include: l Price l Quantity sold l Seasonal sales changes l Whether a product was purchased on promotion l Where product was purchased

What is Panel Data?

Panel data, or household data, is self-reported purchasing data collected by third-party companies like NielsenIQ. NielsenIQ tracks consumer behavior for more than 250,000 households in 25 countries and gathers data through scanning the barcodes on products purchased. Members of the panel also indicate where they bought each product. This data offers a wide look at sales trends and allows brands to get information from the consumers themselves. Learnings you can gain from panel data include: l Customer loyalty l Consumer demographics l Purchase cycle of a given product

UNDERSTANDING HOW TO USE DATA

Both panel and retail/POS data can answer questions that will likely arise in retail pitches. While each offers its own unique perspective on the product’s performance, using the two in tandem can make all the difference in your pitch to buyers.

Panel Data

Panel data shares insights surrounding household usage of your product. This data unpacks the household penetration, frequency of shopping trips, and spending per trip of your consumers. With an insight like “the average household spent $94.93 on dog treat 52 weeks ending 1/1/2022 across 8 trips with an average spend of $11.81 per trip.”

Using this insight, you can help frame your category at the consumer level and demonstrate an understanding of your customer’s shopping habits in your pitch. You’ll be able to answer questions like “how often do shoppers purchase the category?”, “what are the demographics of shoppers who purchase my category?” and “what percent of shoppers at retailer X are purchasing my product?” To further exemplify your dedication to success in any given retailer, you can explain how these insights will inform your marketing tactics with this new retail partner.

POS/Retail Data

POS data reveals the tactical levers of the “4 P’s” (price, promotion, product and place). POS data reveals both non-promo sales and promo sales, which will help you demonstrate knowledge of your promotional tactics in a retail pitch.

As for non-promo sales, POS data will help you answer questions about distribution and velocity of sales. These will help you prove your top-line growth, as well as demonstrate why you’re in a place to further your distribution with a new retail partner.

When it comes to promo sales, POS data will help you understand your promotional performance. Data points like incremental vs. non-incremental sales will help you understand how much product you sold due to promotion vs. how much you would’ve sold without a promotion. Demonstrating a clear understanding of your promotional performance in your pitch will show that you are prepared financially and strategically to launch in a new retailer.

WHY YOU SHOULD USE DATA IN YOUR PITCH

Both panel data and POS data will help differentiate your brand from the competition, highlight major successes in previous retail partners, and demonstrate that you have a clear path forward to overcome challenges you’ve faced in the past.

If you feel overwhelmed by the amount of data digging necessary to pull together a retailer pitch, you’re not alone. That’s why NielsenIQ built Byzzer Stories: an AI-powered tool that takes all the work out of pulling data and creating a retailer pitch deck. Buzzer Stories ... l Automatically populates a category management presentation l Pulls actionable data that puts your brand in the best light l Highlights points to impress your retailer l Saves time and money spent sifting through data points l Combines POS and Panel Data for maximum evidence of value

NielsenIQ is a proud partner of Startup CPG. If you are interested in partnering with Startup CPG, please contact partnerships@startupcpg.com