NPD is working with its retail research partners to assess the viability of launching a point-of-sale service later in the year that covers retail sales for front-of-store categories and includes a broader set of retailers across multiple channels of distribution.
Like this article? Sign up to receive our weekly news blasts here.Currently, the NPD Group publishes the Aftermarket Industry Monitor® (AAIM), which serves the aftermarket industry as the only research service that tracks retail and commercial sales for the auto partschannel. AAIM, which was established in 2001 as a collaborative effort of the aftermarket industry, provides consistent point-of-sale (POS) information on retail and commercial channels at the national and local market levels. More than 21,000 auto parts stores in the continental U.S. provide us with market data for trend analysis on product movement across a wide range of front-of-store and hard parts.
Last year, NAPA made the decision to stop sharing hard parts and commercial data with AAIM. NPD working with the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association (AAIA) formed an industry task force to work on a solution to ensure continued AAIM participation by other retailers. Since that time, the AAIA, AAIM retail panelists, and NPD have focused on finding an equitable reporting solution that meets the needs of the AAIM panelists and enables some equity for front-of-store, light application, and hard parts reporting.
Unfortunately, after numerousdiscussions, NPD’s retailer partners have been unable to agree on a solution that would allow AAIM to collect and report the source information necessary to continue a total store reporting model. As a result, NPD announced the suspension of application parts categories reporting with the February delivery of January data, which coincides with the last NAPA data delivery, and with no retailer solution in place, AAIM service on front-of-store and light application categories will also be impacted.
Concurrently, NPD is now seeking agreement on an interim solution effective after the release of January 2012 data that would bridge a modified form of AAIM to a broader retail tracking service. In the meantime, NPD continues to track aftermarket consumer purchase behavior through its Car Care Track™, which continually collects purchasing information from a vast panel (tens of thousands) of do-it-yourself (DIY) and Do-it-For-Me (DIFM) automotive consumers.
Timely point-of-sales information is important to the marketplace and NPD remains committed to serving the aftermarket industry by providing auto parts channel point-of-sales information so that retailers, manufacturers and distributors can make better and more informed business decisions.
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