Financial Times

ACNielsen retail index consumer shopping dynamics
To address the growing demand by Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) manufacturers in Sri Lanka, ACNielsen, has announced the launch of its Retail Index Modern Trade Service, designed to provide insights into the impact of marketing activities on consumers’ shopping and purchasing decisions.
‘We are very excited to bring our Modern Trade Service to clients in Sri Lanka,” said Dwight Watson, Managing Director, ACNielsen Sri Lanka.

“The retail sector here is gathering pace, with the modern retailing trade now accounting on average 13 percent of sales for most FMCG manufacturers. Chains and stand-alone supermarkets continue to gain importance, even with Sathosa shutting down,” he said in a statement.

According to ACNielsen, consumers’ interaction with brands differ greatly between the traditional retail and new modern channel. In the modern trade, shoppers can interact with products, and are exposed to greater variety and promotions with increasingly aggressive marketing campaigns.

Securing the loyalty of consumers in these outlets should be a priority for storeowners and FMCG manufacturers. Information provided by the new ACNielsen Retail Index Modern Trade Service will benefit both parties as they gain a greater understanding of what motivates consumers.“Initially focusing on the important ‘stand-alone’ outlets, a representative sample has been compiled to represent all stores in Sri Lanka. This information will allow the manufacturer to evaluate their performance against their competitors and compared with the traditional trade.”

Watson further added that Retail Index Modern Trade Service comes with additional tools to allow FMCG manufacturers to access never-before-available information on consumer preferences within this trade sector. With an aggressive promotions drive in Sri Lanka and the huge investment made by both manufacturers and retailers, ACNielsen’s Modern Trade Service allows them to analyse the effectiveness of those promotions and enable them to ensure their return on investment. The ACNielsen Retail Index Modern Trade Service combines audit data with scanning information from stores to show users what sells well and when, and who loses. The information is supplied monthly through an interactive software system that automates analysis on stocking patterns, promotional trends, distribution effectiveness – all information that is extremely important as this trade sector continues to grow.
ACNielsen is the world's leading marketing information provider.

Offering services in more than 100 countries, the unit provides measurement and analysis of marketplace dynamics and consumer attitudes and behaviour.
Clients rely on ACNielsen's market research, proprietary products, analytical tools and professional service to understand competitive performance, to uncover new opportunities and to raise the profitability of their marketing and sales campaigns. ACNielsen is part of the VNU Marketing Information group. VNU is a global information and media company with leading market positions and recognized brands in marketing information (ACNielsen), media measurement and information (Nielsen Media Research) and business information (Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Computing, Intermediair).

VNU is active in more than 100 countries, with headquarters in Haarlem, the Netherlands and New York, USA. The company employs 38,000 people.

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