At A Glance
Noteworthy Characteristics
- Data may be useful in studies of childhood obesity by providing community-level information on food purchases.
- Scanner-based data collection provides a high level of objectivity, but does not include products sold by weight.
Website
Purpose
To enable research, brand, and sales managers to examine key business trends by product, category, or market using scanner-based sales and causal information gathered weekly from grocery, drug, and mass merchandiser stores.
Target Population
Retail stores in the United States (U.S.).
Conducted
Evaluation of scanning system output began in early 1972. Local Scantrack service for Rochester, NY and Seattle, WA launched in 1979. National Scantrack service began in 1980. Currently, Nielsen Food Index report service covers 53 local Scantrack Major Markets, Sales Areas, Trade Areas, and other scanner-based services across multiple channels.
Sponsor
The Nielsen Company
Special Note(s)
The James M. Kilts Center for Marketing at Chicago Booth and the Nielsen Company have partnered to make two Nielsen consumer marketing datasets available to U.S.-based academic researchers. Additional information is available at the Chicago Booth School website: https://research.chicagobooth.edu/nielsen/.
See also Nielsen Homescan®.
Sampling
Sample Design
Scantrack Grocery sample: Stratified systematic probability sample, designed to measure consumer sales in supermarkets with more than $2 million in sales.
The Scantrack Drug sample: Stratified systematic probability sample, designed to measure consumer sales in all chain drug stores and independents with more than $1 million in sales.
The Scantrack Mass sample: Stratified systematic probability sample, designed to measure consumer sales in all Nielsen defined mass merchandisers (approximately 3,500 stores in the 48 contiguous states), excluding Walmart.
Sample lists are sequenced geographically (using latitude and longitude) to account for such differences as city vs. suburb, urban vs. rural, ethnic vs. non-ethnic, high vs. low income.
Scantrack All Outlets Combined Channel (AOC) is an aggregation of the Grocery, Drug, and Mass samples described above.
Further information on sampling design is not publicly available.
Sample Size
Information not available.
Key Variables
Other
| Name | Methods of Assessment |
|---|---|
| Brand | Data on all variables collected through scanner data provided by retailer |
| Dollar sales | Data on all variables collected through scanner data provided by retailer |
| Percentage of stores in sample selling each product | Data on all variables collected through scanner data provided by retailer |
| Price | Data on all variables collected through scanner data provided by retailer |
| Unit sales | Data on all variables collected through scanner data provided by retailer |
Data Access and Cost
Data Availability
Purchase data from Nielsen.
Cost
Fee-based.
Special Note(s)
The Nielsen Company is a commercial firm that sells its data.
Geocode/Linkage
Geocode Variable(s)
Nielsen Scantrack Grocery, Drug and FDMx markets, Census Regions and Divisions, Total United States. Retailer-specific information also is available for purchase.
Existing Linkages
None noted.
Selected Publications
None noted.
Resources
None noted.
