Real-time data: What it is and why retailers need it

Fresh is better

In the past, businesses relied on pricing data that was past its prime, hoping and trusting that it was accurate enough to guide their decisions. But real-time decisions require real-time data. Days can make a difference in the effectiveness and value of price changes. Retailers could be pricing KVIs either too low or too high, risking millions on competitor prices that are already yesterday’s news. CPGs may struggle to make efficient, optimized trade spend decisions because they lack access to real-time pricing intelligence. Real-time data can change the game—here’s how.

For Retailers:

Challenge

Store W, Store X and Store Y are grocery competitors in a suburban community within Cincinnati, Ohio, each with a different method of collecting the data they need to make winning pricing decisions.

Store W uses syndicated data with averaged pricing in an attempt to be competitive, and Store X sends auditors to sample prices on selected categories at local competitors. Store Y takes a different approach.

Solution

By using Datasembly’s real-time, hyper-local data, Store Y can monitor competitive intelligence on KVIs within their trade area while improving their pricing and promotion strategies. Moreover, they now have the power to decide if they want to compete with the lowest-priced neighboring stores, or if it’s safe to increase prices as their own costs rise.

For CPGs:

Challenge

A wholesale club retailer had an agreement with a CPG stipulating that the brand’s products would not appear at a lower price in various competing stores located within a 10-mile radius of its own stores, for more than a 12-week period. This retailer saw the agreement as necessary for upholding its low-price commitment to its members. Those various competing stores, however, launched a promotion that the wholesale club believes to have lasted longer than the previously agreed-upon 12 weeks. This retailer subsequently demanded a trade spend as compensation from the CPG, per their agreement.

Solution

Using the proprietary price intelligence application, this CPG was able to gain insights into the daily prices being charged for its products at individual area locations. Data showed many of the stores offering the lower prices were outside of the specified 10-mile radius. Further, the competing promotion lasted only two weeks beyond that allowed period; thus, the data enabled the CPG to greatly reduce the amount of trade dollars it would have otherwise have had to pay to the wholesale club retailer.

Real-time, real results

Datasembly’s proprietary platform collects over two billion omnichannel product observations daily, from over 38,000 store locations, providing real-time, hyper-local data that can be used to make fast, actionable decisions. Retailers and CPGs can now access up-to-the-minute competitive pricing data in real-time, at an incredibly granular level. Request a demo today and experience the data difference