NPD Launches Accessories Tracking Service

Consumer and retail information provider, The NPD Group, has launched the Accessories Market Tracking Service to understand consumer purchasing habits across a broad range of accessories.

The service will analyse purchasing triggers for items such as bags and luggage, watches, jewelry, sunglasses and small leather goods to provide manufacturers and retailers with data to guide marketing investment.

NPD clients will be able to investigate competitors' performance, dollar and unit sales, market share and pricing, and afterwards be able to benchmark results. The retail point-of-sale tracking service will report style-level sales in department stores and national chain stores, and the firm is planning to expand it to other categories in the future.

Art Spar, who was promoted to the role of NPD President, Apparel and Accessories last summer (www.mrweb.com/drno/news5721.htm ), says that before the launch, the accessories industry did not have access to ongoing market tracking data. 'Not only can we evaluate the 'who and the why behind the buy' with the Consumer Tracking Service, we can deliver actual point-of-sale data down to the style level for bags and luggage in department and national chain stores via the Retail Tracking Service.'

US-based NPD Group was founded in 1967 to provide consumer behaviour and point-of-sale (POS) information. The firm runs an online consumer panel comprising more than 3 million registered adults and teens, produces special reports and provides custom research from its network of offices around the world. The homepage is at www.npd.com .