Walmart Taps Nielsen to Streamline Supplier Data Use

Research firm Nielsen and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. have teamed up to streamline the way data is used in the Walmart supplier ecosystem to deliver improved efficiencies and stronger performance to the marketplace. Nielsen CEO Mitch Barns shared details about the newly expanded partnership yesterday during Nielsen’s 2017 Investor Day.

Through a syndicated data collaboration program, Walmart One Version of Truth, Nielsen will provide a new and more efficient way for manufacturers, vendors and business partners to measure performance and generate mutual growth with Walmart.

“Aligning with Walmart’s customer-centric philosophy, the collaboration program we are developing will ultimately yield a deeper understanding of customer preferences, enabling Walmart and its supplier partners to have a common data set that fuels faster, better informed decisions,” said Barns. “At the end of the day, enabling efficiency is an opportunity for us to bring innovation and progress to the industry, together.”

As the sole provider of this program, Nielsen is the only company that can offer manufacturers the same point-of-sale (POS) data and analytic applications that Walmart uses internally, enabling them to align, collaborate and grow with a consistent view of the marketplace. Using a shared data platform and aligned view of performance, Walmart and its suppliers will be able to quickly align and take action on their opportunities to reduce costs and improve customer experience.

Nielsen also plans to increase its retail coverage of Walmart, both in-store and online. As part of the expanded agreement, Nielsen was named Walmart’s preferred provider of POS data, making Nielsen numbers the baseline for performance measures and analytics within Walmart.

“We aspire to be a key linkage in Walmart's supply chain and deliver significant simplicity to Walmart, which is consistent with their everyday low prices philosophy,” said Steve Hasker, global president and COO at New York-based Nielsen.

The company also announced that Jet.com will join Nielsen’s e-commerce measurement service as part of its total U.S. market read. Today, Nielsen has a total consumer view of 90% of fast-moving consumer goods online sales within the U.S. market.