CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--IRI™, the global leader in innovative solutions and services for consumer, retail, media and over-the-counter health care companies, announced today that Albertsons Companies, the second largest grocery chain in the United States, has selected IRI as its preferred partner for point-of-sale data, consumer panel insights and strategic growth initiatives to support joint business collaboration.
Under the agreement, IRI will become Albertsons Companies’ preferred insights provider of category hierarchy and geographies data, which will help the grocer create a single source of truth for shopper and market information. Albertsons Companies has more than 2,200 grocery stores across 33 states and the District of Columbia under well-known banners, including Albertsons, Safeway, Vons and Jewel-Osco.
IRI will work with Albertsons to facilitate collaboration between Albertsons Companies and its manufacturer partners to make better and faster decisions, founded in data and insights. For Albertsons’ manufacturer partners, this new partnership provides access to expanded and fully integrated datasets from the 18 banners that make up Albertsons Companies for increased ability to drive growth. Manufacturers will have access to shopper insights that more accurately reflect shopper attitudes and behaviors, so they can make better, more informed decisions regarding all critical product and market questions, such as new product development, pricing, packaging, and advertising and promotions.
Albertsons Companies selected IRI because of its focus on growth, best-in-class shopper data, integrated data with easy-to-use applications, proprietary purchase propensity modeling at the store and household levels, prescriptive analytics and the quality of its people.
“Albertsons’ new relationship with IRI is designed to help us achieve our goals of not only driving growth, but delighting our customers,” said Shane Sampson, executive vice president, chief marketing and merchandising officer, Albertsons Companies LLC. “And by integrating our data with IRI’s technology, we’ll also be able to collaborate with our valued suppliers to drive effective merchandising strategies.”
IRI will provide Albertsons with its Liquid Data™ technology platform that integrates best-in-class data, including premium causal data (weather, gas and economic), integrated perishables data, health and wellness attributions as well as IRI’s proprietary shopper segmentations.
“We are thrilled to partner with Albertsons Companies, a true powerhouse in the grocery industry,” said Andrew Appel, president and chief executive officer, IRI. “The marketplace for grocery retailers is increasingly competitive and complex, so one of the key ways retailers will win in this environment is through the strategic use of data, technology and prescriptive analytics. IRI has been hard at work in developing market-leading solutions for retailers, and we’ll help Albertsons understand what their shoppers are doing both inside and outside of their stores and unlock new pockets of growth.”
About the IRI Partner Ecosystem
IRI fundamentally believes that delivering differentiated growth for clients requires deep, highly integrated partnering with a variety of best-of-breed companies. As such, IRI works closely with a broad range of industry leaders to create innovative joint solutions, services and access to capabilities to help its clients more effectively compete in their various markets and exceed their growth objectives. IRI is committed to its partnership philosophy and continues to actively enhance its ecosystem of partners through alliances, joint ventures, acquisitions and affiliations. The IRI Partner Ecosystem includes such companies as The Boston Consulting Group, comScore, Experian, GfK, Gigwalk, GuestMetrics, Ipsos, Kantar, MasterCard Advisors, MaxPoint, Millward Brown Digital, Mu Sigma, Oracle, SPINS, Univision and others.
About IRI
IRI is a leading provider of big data, predictive analytics and forward-looking insights that help CPG, OTC health care organizations, retailers and media companies to grow their businesses. With the largest repository of purchase, media, social, causal and loyalty data, all integrated on an on-demand cloud-based technology platform, IRI helps to guide its more than 5,000 clients around the world in their quests to remain relentlessly relevant, capture market share, connect with consumers and deliver market-leading growth. A confluence of major external events—a revolution in consumer buying, big data coming into its own, advanced analytics and automated consumer activation—is leading to a seismic shift in drivers of success in all industries. Ensure your business can leverage data at www.iriworldwide.com.
