IRI

Was a top-tier CPG and retail analytics provider; merged with NPD Group to form Circana, now a leading alternative to Nielsen in consumer intelligence.

IRI (Information Resources Inc.) was a global leader in big data, predictive analytics, and forward-looking insights, primarily serving consumer packaged goods (CPG), retail, and media companies. Founded in 1979 and headquartered in Chicago, IRI built one of the largest repositories of purchase-based consumer data in the world, enabling clients to optimize pricing, promotions, assortment, and marketing effectiveness. Its platform integrated point-of-sale data, loyalty card data, and media exposure data to deliver actionable insights across the full marketing and sales funnel. IRI held a dominant position in the CPG analytics space alongside competitors like Nielsen and Kantar, offering a comprehensive suite of tools for market measurement, demand forecasting, and media planning. Its technology platform, IRI Liquid Data, was widely regarded as a best-in-class data integration and analytics environment, allowing clients to blend IRI's proprietary datasets with their own first-party data. The company served thousands of CPG manufacturers and retailers globally, making it a critical infrastructure provider for the consumer goods industry. In 2022, IRI announced a merger with The NPD Group, a leading market research firm covering non-food consumer categories. The combined entity officially launched under the new brand name Circana in June 2023, retiring the IRI brand. The merger created a more comprehensive data and analytics powerhouse spanning food, beverage, health, beauty, and general merchandise categories, positioning Circana as a formidable competitor to Nielsen in the broader consumer intelligence market.