INTERNET IS SEEN IN IRI'S FUTURE

JAMES TENSER

SAN DIEGO -- Account business managers and other brand marketers at headquarters and in the field will soon be downloading syndicated category management data via the Internet, predicted Gian Fulgoni, chief executive officer of Information Resources Inc., Chicago.

"We will use the Internet to get Infoscan data into the hands of the users," Fulgoni told 1,000 attendees at AUGI '96, IRI's 11th Annual Apollo Users Group category management conference here last month.

An Internet link, he proposed, would allow remote users faster access "by letting the data reside in our machines."

Fulgoni offered a few current IRI statistics: Five terabytes, or five million megabytes, of data reside on its computers. Its Infoscan system logs 70,000 user sessions per month, or the equivalent of 80,000 hours by its clients, who include more than 1,000 retailers, wholesalers, brokers and manufacturers.

Current statistics, he said, show that there is now more Infoscan central processing unit time being logged by retailers than by manufacturers.

"But so far, there has been limited use by [manufacturers'] remote field sales people," he added, and promised that new IRI applications, including Internet access, will address that to support fact-based selling.

Fulgoni said a main reason the company's data base has grown to such a size is the ongoing acquisition of so-called "census" data, currently being gathered from 6,000 supermarkets. Altogether, Infoscan covers a universe of 23,000 stores, he added.

Census data allows for more local and account-specific analyses, which can be useful to account managers in the field who are developing localized marketing programs with retailers. Internet downloads can be a very cost-effective way to distribute standard reports to authorized users.

Fulgoni touched on several other potential applications for census data. Among them are micromarketing applications, which he said would allow more focus on top-line growth.

In an apparent reference to merchandising service companies, he said IRI has been working to identify third parties that could benefit retailers by using "arms and legs to use census data to focus on store-by-store opportunities." He cited Actmedia, Norwalk, Conn., as one potential user of this type.

Also in the future are what he called "operational applications," trade funds management systems and other tools for category management.

"The most exciting immediate application for census data is in the area of supply chain management," he said. He predicted new analytical tools from IRI Logistics that will fuel a "breakthrough" in forecasting consumer demand. These will allow users to separate future sales into base sales plus incremental sales, which improves forecasting to 80% accuracy. IRI is currently testing these methods with Wegmans supermarkets, Heinz Canada and Italian retailer, Essalunga, he said.

Fulgoni praised U.S. retailers for their cooperation in sharing data with manufacturers. European retailers, he said, have so far been less agreeable on this point, but he is hopeful of improvement.

In Europe, he added, IRI is now reaching "critical mass." Its scanning services cover about 50%, of the markets there. In other European markets, IRI gathers a hybrid of audit and scan-based data.