Circana to launch new data feature

How is the retail tire industry performing compared with, say, the food and beverage industry? Is your dealership keeping pace with business growth in your region? What kind of insights should you know to make your shop more successful?

Those are the types of questions we will attempt to answer in a new upcoming recurring feature.

I am proud to announce a new partnership between Tire Business and Circana Inc., a global data company that tracks consumer behavior in more than two dozen major industries, including apparel, automotive, consumer technology, food and beverage, health and wellness, pet care, sports and toys.

Each industry is broken down into several categories; tires, for example, is one of more than 30 categories under automotive. The tire category can be broken down further, including large and smaller independent shops, SKUs, rim diameter and tire type.

Beginning May 6, Circana and its executive director of industry analysis, Nathan Shipley, will provide special tire-industry related data and/or analysis, exclusive to Tire Business.

Insights featured in "Circana's Corner" will be tailored to meet the needs of our audience.

You might not be familiar with Circana. The company was created a little more than a year ago when two long-time data and market research companies — NPD Group L.P. and Information Resources Inc. — merged.

The NPD Group historically tracked general merchandise industries such as the automotive aftermarket; IRI tracked grocery and consumer packaged goods.

The new company, Chicago-based Circana — pronounced SIR-kah-na — now tracks the complete consumer. Circana has more than 35 offices across the globe, with a presence in 23 countries, representing 75% of the world's gross domestic product (GDP).

Shipley said NPD tracked the automotive aftermarket for more than 30 years, adding the tire industry a few years ago.

"We are just scratching the surface of the types of information and business insights that can benefit the complex tire market," Shipley told Tire Business, "and we look forward to strengthening that relationship."

Shipley said data helps to drive fact-based decision-making for some of the industry's most critical decisions, including pricing, product mix and promotions.

Tire dealers, he said, might be interested in comparing their sales performance with the industry's, or understanding where discretionary spending may be shifting to other industries.

For example, a tire dealer may set a goal of 5% yearly growth. Those numbers may sound great internally, but is he or she keeping up with regional competitors? Could there be some lost opportunity?

Shipley said Circana clients appear most interested in comparing their sales to sales for other competitive products, as well as understanding emerging trends that might not seem obvious.

"Tires are doing great, but then you start talking about relative performance," he said. "(People) are like, 'Are you kidding me? What are people doing and why are they buying this?' "

Shipley is just as excited about the collaboration as we are.

"Understanding the breadth of what you have in terms of your readership and your coverage, it's exciting for us to be working with you to get our insights out," he said. "As the consumer replacement tire industry continues to evolve, information like this has never been more paramount."