Walmart, Nielsen enter cooperation agreement

SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — Walmart has returned to the consumer packaged goods industry's information sharing model through a new cooperation agreement with Nielsen.

With this new partnership, Walmart (including its Neighborhood Market stores) and Sam's Club will be provided with better insight on consumers' purchasing habits, Nielsen said. Additionally, Nielsen will help Walmart and Sam's Club report incorporate their retail sales information over the next several months to provide better and more accurate sales coverage for all participating retailers and manufacturers, providing improved insights into sales volumes, pricing, merchandising and promotions, Nielsen added.

“Nielsen is thrilled to expand our relationship with Walmart, adding to the momentum we’ve established with their sister company, Sam’s Club,” said John Lewis, North America consumer president and CEO at Nielsen. “We believe that Walmart’s participation in the information sharing model reinforces the importance of business information and analytics in today’s retail climate. Nielsen is confident that both retailers and consumer goods manufacturers will benefit significantly from greater accuracy of information on what consumers buy.”

Added Walmart EVP global customer insights Cindy Davis, “This expanded relationship with Nielsen will provide Walmart and Sam’s Club with deeper insights into customer purchasing — and unmet needs — both nationally and in key local markets. We plan to share our point-of-sale information to help us identify category growth opportunities sooner and collaborate with our manufacturer partners to develop more impactful customer-driven programs going forward.”