Market Track: August 2012

The overall drop in number of circulars continued this month, with a six percent decrease in the number of inserts being released to the market among selected retailers.



The overall number of pages per market remained the same with a marginal increase compared to previous year. Walmart had the largest increase in pages per market with a larger focus on “Back to School” with 5 circulars with a prominent “Back to School” theme.



Interestingly, JCPenney increased pages on a year over year basis as well despite the decrease in the number of flyers released per market. This is in contrast to the decrease in promotional activity in July overall.

Despite Walgreens’ increase in page counts, there was less focus on “Back to School” compared to last year--they reduced Back to School flyers from 3 to 2 this year.

Kroger and Target both increased page counts, along with increasing the number of circulars released to market. Target focused more on “Back to School” promotions this year compared to last year.



It’s important to note a number of factors should be considered when examining the number of inserts and pages retailers send into the marketplace. Market Track’s granular level of data reflects regional versioning and market specific differences. This is accomplished through an extensive collections process, including physically obtaining the ads from the various markets in which they are distributed. In the instance that retailers send additional circulars to a limited number of markets, Market Track’s information reflects these nuances through numbers with decimals (for average number of inserts per market) and odd numbers (for average number of pages).



About Market Track:

Market Track is a market intelligence firm dedicated to increasing customers’ returns on their promotional investments. Through innovative technology and marketplace expertise, they monitor and analyze over 200 U.S. and Canadian markets for every channel of trade in order provide retailers and manufacturers with superior tools to monitor promotional activity, support dynamic decision making and turn information into market intelligence. For more information, contact Market Track at 1.800.235.3781 or e-mail [email protected].