Petco, Nielsen Enter Data Sharing Pact

San Diego-based Petco has become the first pet specialty retailer to opt into New York-based Nielsen’s information sharing model, as the market research company attempts to open up the pet specialty channel to its services.

Specifically, Petco named Nielsen the “preferred provider of census-level sales information from Petco stores,” Nielsen reported.

“We’re delighted to be working side-by-side with Petco as they enter the industry’s cooperative information-sharing model,” said John Lewis, president and CEO of Nielsen’s Consumer North America unit. “With information from Petco stores, Nielsen is better able to meed the needs of our clients in the pet business and help them and Petco grow their businesses through better analytics and deeper insights into their core consumers.”

Most U.S. food, drug, mass, convenience and dollar store retailers already share data with Nielsen, according to the research firm. Nielsen takes market data from these retailers, then “scrubs” it to prevent competitors from getting a precise perspective of rivals, said Raleigh Floyd, Nielsen’s director of marketing relations. The scrubbed data is then shared with participating retailers and manufacturers.

As part of new deal with Nielsen, Petco will receive information on consumer purchase behavior.

Nielsen is attempting to add pet specialty to its data basket, but it takes at least three players within a retail channel to opt in before they are able to adequately scrub channel-specific data, Floyd said. Thus, it may be a while before Nielsen is able to break out pet specialty channel-specific data as it works to incorporate the Petco data into its existing mix.

As part of the deal, Petco will receive information about consumer purchase behavior and its competitive position in the marketplace relative to the other retail channels. Petco would then use this information in honing its marketing and pricing strategies.
 
For Nielsen’s manufacturer clients, Petco’s cooperation in the model will improve the level of data and provide insights into the pet product sector. Eventually Nielsen expects to be able to provide pet specialty channel information on a national and regional basis.