New retail product testing service
Audits International, Highland Park, Ill., and Tragon Corp., Redwood City, Calif., have jointly developed AdvantEdge, a retail product testing service that is designed to expose a product’s (and its competition’s) strengths and weaknesses in a point-of-sale environment. The process begins when field reps from Audits International visit stores in cities across the country where the product is sold. The reps purchase products (the client’s and the competition’s) from four major supermarket chains in each city. The minimum purchase requirement per product includes multiple packages from the display with three different production codes per store. The field reps then evaluate the products for display appearance, package condition and age as well as flavor, texture, aroma and overall. Those packages deemed "typical" (what consumers expect the products to be) are then delivered to Tragon Corp. for preference testing. At Tragon, the products are tested by a panel of sensory experts to determine if there are differences from city to city. After that, a consumer panel determines product preference.
Service uses POS data to define trade areas
Spatial Insights, Inc., Vienna, Va., has developed a proprietary mapping technology that uses customer-based point-of-sale data to define trade areas by modeling the true geographic distribution of customer density or revenue. The company uses the technology in a new service, CustomTrend, which is designed for retailers that want to define trade areas or identify trade area overlap. By defining the geographic extent and characteristics of their trade areas, the service helps retailers define the demographics of their customers, quantify trade area cannibalization and delineate market opportunities. To define demographic profiles or develop site suitability models, demographics and other geographically referenced data can be subset and summarized according to the actual trade area or strength of revenue concentration.
TelAc debuts omnibus study of Asian market
TelAc, Inc., an Arlington, Va., provider of multi-lingual telemarketing services, has launched its first omnibus research study in the Asian market, surveying awareness and usage habits via telephone calls conducted in the native language of Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese), Korean and Vietnamese households. The survey measures usage of services such as telecommunications, banking and financial services, insurance and health care and usage of computers and other products. The survey also measures media usage and key demographics.
Infomark users can now access crime data
The CAPCrime database from CAP Index, Inc., King of Prussia, Pa., is now available from Equifax National Decision Systems, San Diego. The database lets marketers assess vulnerability to crimes against persons and property anywhere in the U.S. Through a sophisticated evaluation system, the CAPRisk model, used to create the database, scores an area for probability of crime occurrences. This data can be incorporated into any business location decision, but is especially valuable in selecting sites that require 24-hour safe access, such as those for automatic teller machines, convenience stores and distribution facilities. The database provides scores indexed to the national average for any geographical area down to the census tract level for the following types of crime: homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft. In addition, aggregated scores are available for four crime categories: crimes against persons, crimes against property, total crime and the CAP Index (a weighted average of homicide, rape and robbery). CAPCrime data is available for 1990, the current year, and a five-year projection, can be provided in a number of formats, including reports, maps, and dBASE files for use with Infomark, Equifax National Decision Systems’ desktop decision support system.
Customer Insight updates AnalytiX
Customer Insight Company, Englewood, Colo., has released AnalytiX 2.3, a database marketing system that enables users to analyze client data on their own desktop. The new version’s enriched capabilities include added report flexibility, advanced modeling techniques and improved direct mail tools. With the new Analytical Report Template, non-technical users can select from multiple report options to build customized reports, giving them more power to create sophisticated reports without understanding the underlying programming technology. Version 2.3 also eliminates the data preparation process often associated with completing advanced data models. A new statistical modeling interface lets users manipulate, analyze and export data to SPSS to complete statistical analysis. In addition, AnalytiX delivers enhanced direct mail tools to make it easier to group and track household activity over a specified time series. Group Sets allow users to create a static sample of the database to which they can compare purchase behavior over time.
Release 2.3 also contains a Decoy Manager that automatically seeds mailing lists to ensure rental integrity. Users can view multiple tables simultaneously, create table queries simply and automatically assign segmentation codes. They can also recall and query against multiple tables. In addition, release 2.3 has taken advantage of its Windows-based structure by enabling the toolbar functionality for query management. Users can enter and edit field descriptions, filter fields from view and take advantage of toolbar menus to cut, copy, paste, save and print query expressions. The autosequencing function in 2.3 is designed to make database segmentation faster and easier. This segmentation scoring capability assigns mail keys and segment codes to facilitate mass customization of special offers.