Market Track: January 2012

The year got started with an overall drop in circular counts per market from five flyers to four flyers compared with January 2011. Conversely, pages per market saw an increase of 7.6% compared with the previous year. 

There was a noticeable jump in Lowes’ number of pages per market due to a 20-page insert dropping in the first week of January this year, where last year they distributed a two-page insert during the same week. However, they reduced their circulation from three to two circulars per market when compared with last year.

JCPenny distributed only two flyers this January compared to five flyers last year, resulting in a 48% decrease in pages.

Walmart and Safeway worked on their promotions in a different way this month, they dropped fewer flyers per market but increased the number of pages per insert by 42 % and 5% respectively compared with last year.

Best Buy, CVS and Kmart used the same promotional strategy by increasing the number of pages per market while maintaining the number of flyers dropped.

Sears was the only retailer who saw an increase in both flyers as well as pages per market.

Kroger, Kohl’s, Home Depot and Staples were among the retailers showing a decrease in both flyers as well as pages per market. Home Depot had the highest drop in pages per market compared with other retailers at -50%.



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).

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].