New Data Illustrates Modest Holiday Sales Growth

Tepid industry sales as the July 4 holiday approached were revealed as market research firm Nielsen launched a new initiative to provide companies with early access to retail and consumer goods marketplace insights.

Nielsen’s Friday morning data delivery aims to reduce wait time for weekly retail sales performance data—which typically carries over the weekend and into the following week—enabling companies to identify and move on market trends sooner.

The first such report, issued July 6, illustrated slightly less than 1% sales growth across FMCG in U.S. brick-and-mortar outlets for the week ending June 30. Prices of nonfood products are experiencing the biggest rise in price this week, while food categories—including bakery, deli, frozen and seafood—have experienced more balanced growth across both dollars and units.

Leading up to the holiday week, the company also highlighted sun care, indicating that sales of sunscreen have reached more than $61.3 million this week, with spray and stick formats outperforming traditional sunscreen lotions. And while the week leading up to the Fourth of July typically sees increased beer sales, the category this year failed to deliver growth, with beer sales down 2% for the week ending June 30.

The first-to-market data delivery provides retail and FMCG companies advance access to weekly sales performance data on volume, market share, distribution, price and promotion metrics across all Nielsen’s total U.S. all outlets combined channels, including grocery stores, drugstores, mass merchandisers, select dollar stores, select warehouse clubs and military commissaries.

Related:Nielsen Holiday Forecast: Uptick in Key Food/Household Categories

With early access to marketplace insights, retailers and manufacturers can more effectively strategize for the following week, strengthening their position in a competitive market, Nielsen said.

“For our clients, we saw the need to fuel faster decision-making, and we are proud to be the first data provider within our industry to bring to market our Friday morning data delivery,” said John Tavolieri, president of U.S. FMCG and retail and chief technology and operations officer for New York-based Nielsen, in a statement. “Now more than ever, speed of data is imperative. Earlier data delivery leads to faster data-driven actions. For all companies navigating the current dynamic business environment, every day counts.”