Market Track: May 2012
Overall, this month saw gain in flyer distribution as well as the size of flyer. The largest push of this month came from Walmart with more than 100% increase in flyer drops this month as compared to same month last year. Walmart dropped almost three flyers per market as compared to none in the second week of May this year. Also, a 26-page flyer was dropped in the first week as compared to 12-page flyer previous year.
Staples also witnessed noteworthy increase in flyer distribution this month, with 33% increase in flyer distribution when compared with last year. Kmart focused on increasing the flyer circulation this month, while curtailing on the size of flyer in comparison with previous year.
Sears on the other hand marginally increased the flyer circulation, and focused more on page count per flyer by having 23% increase in page count compared to last year.
Interestingly a large set of retailers did not change their distribution strategy at all this month, and only focused on the size of flyer. Best Buy, CVS and Walgreens kept the circulation unchanged, however increased page count compared to last year. In the case of Home Depot, Lowes and Toys R Us, there was a significant cut down on their flyer size this year.
JCPenney saw the highest decrease in flyer count as well as page count per flyer. The retailer seems to be continuing its focus on its new pricing structures rather than promotions. This is in spite of a decrease in Q1 sales that exceeded estimates.
Kroger, also witnessed a drop of 11% in their flyer and about 3% drop in page count as compared to previous year same month.
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].