We show how using one expert system allows us to go further and quicker in the analysis of the enormous amount of data collected by scanner in a sample of stores. In particular the first step of our research is to be able to condense, to structure this data in a automatically generated report, underlining the significant elements.
In West Germany a retail scanner panel is successfully operated by an independent, non-profit organisation jointly owned by retailers and manufacturers. User companies now have easy and cheap access to raw retail panel data, gdp Marktanalysen developed gdp ScanBase, a scanner data base and analysis system, which enables management to extract meaningful information supporting decisions from scanner data on their own. The article describes methods, systems and solutions which have been applied to easily gain automated insight into the depth of retail trading.
This paper describes marketing research information technology systems, their impact on the more traditional methodologies and techniques, and presents new research into user applications, both current and anticipated. A brief history of technology used in research is followed by a systematic cataloguing of research technologies in use today or just emerging. These include single use, and the latest single-source systems. The intended use of these technologies and systems is described, with emphasis on the way the systems and technologies are linked internally to achieve their information integration. Each of the systems and their technologies are compared to each other in terms of their specific utility, as well as their individual strengths and weaknesses. The impact on existing methodologies and techniques is examined from both a provider and user point of view. A side-by-side comparison shows the potential for substitution in regard to utility features and cost factors. Current research applications using scanner technology is examined. Scanner data can be divided into scanner panel data and store level data. Scanner panel data is used to analyze marketing mix variables and to determine market statistics such as market share, trends, prices, promotion frequency. One of the key advantages of electronic scanner panel data is the availability of causal information for aE the brands in the market. This allow researchers to analyze issues such as relative price and promotional activity. Paper diary data do not have this type of causal data and thus it is difficult to analyze competitive effects. The paper shows examples of how scanner data derived from single-source systems can be used to address basic consumer and retail issues.
The U.S. test marketing scene has been going through revolutionary changes since 1980 with the advent of electronic technology with high powered minicomputers. It is now possible to collect supermarket laser scanner sales data, TV viewing patterns, packaged good purchase histories and household demographics into a single (household) source database. These data enables us for the first time to realistically evaluate the cause-and-effect relationship of many marketing variables such as advertising weight and scheduling, promotional synergy, commercial copy quality and their relationship to sales. There are three major suppliers of these test marketing services in the U.S. These are Information Resources, Inc., SAMI/Burke Inc. and A.C. Neilsen. The second part of this paper presents a new test marketing technology provided by SAMI/Burkeâs Test Marketing Group for capturing all panelist purchases through a supplementary data wand. In SAMI/Burkeâs ViewScan markets, panelists use the data wand at home to supplement purchase records gathered in scanner grocery stores by means of a scan wand. Data obtained through this combined method are presented and comparison made with respect to store scanner only data to show the significant improvement on data quality and coverage, especially in health and beauty aids and over-the-counter drug categories.
The constantly developing equipment of outlets in electronic check-outs offers new possibilities of responses to manufacturers' information needs. In fact, the installation of test zone like the SECODIP SCANNEL proves, at the same time, the dynamism of research companies and their willingness to apply new methods in the market research field. In France, the SCANNEL concept has been used by SECODIP since 1985. A test zone is already in action while 2 to 4 zones are likely to operate during the years 1988/1989.
This paper is on the sales and marketing information needs that such scanner data now makes available to manufacturers and retailers and the MMIS required to exploit these data.
This paper investigates the impact of scanner data on retailers and the uses retailers have made or can yet make of this data. Although scanners are used in many different retailer and wholesaler environments, the focus here is on the development of scanner information by grocery retailers, starting with a brief historical overview of the development in the U.S.A. Examples of specific grocery retail applications are given that show the âbased information, and indirectly scanner potential richness of scanner suggest some of the problems associated with generating and analyzing these data.
The objectives of this paper are to detail the experiences in developing and using scanner-based systems and to demonstrate how these systems have influenced marketing and marketing research in general. The central focus of this paper is a discussion of the applications, advantages and disadvantages of scanner data and the ways in which this new information source can aid publishers in marketing decision making. A number of relevant, new developments and their possible effects on the media industry in the USA will also be highlighted.
This paper discusses the development of scanning, particularly in Europe, and the uses of consumer sales data captured at the point-of-sale in marketing research.
In this paper the following problem is tackled: Assumed, a pattern of individual item sales and corresponding prices by week is known for a certain period of the past. What sales can be expected if planned price strategies including price cuts are undertaken for a pre-specified number of weeks in the future?
The paper examines the various possibilities of using scanning data to improve the marketing of retailers. As a start, the method, the benefits and the status of scanning are described. Retail marketing encounters a number of general and special problems. They result in a series of major weaknesses, which are characteristic for current retail marketing. With the advent of scanning, the trade has a new and powerful source of information at its disposal, informing the retailer in a fast and detailed way about the sales at the individual point of purchase. This was up to now impossible. Scanning data has the potential to help retailers in decision-making in such critical marketing areas as product assortment management, space allocation and shelf management, pricing, promotion and advertising. The tools will be information systems, special analyses, marketing experimentation and customer panels.
The paper provides a comparison of some aspects of Consumer panel operations in Canada and the United States with those in Europe. The main difference is the method of recruitment, the use of mail and telephone in North America compared with personal calls in Europe. The problem of panel pick-up levels is discussed and reference made to factoring data using client shipment data and the use of UPC Codes in diary completion by panel members. The paper concludes with a discussion of the future of Consumer Panels with special reference to the implication of Scanners.