Podcast Summary: "Full View Omnichannel Measurement with NielsenIQ's Kim Cox"
Podcast: The CPG Guys
Hosts: Sree Rajagopalan & (absent) Peter V.S. Bond
Guest: Kim Cox, Managing Director, North America E-Commerce & Global Snapshots, NielsenIQ
Release Date: September 27, 2025
Episode Overview
This episode centers on the evolution and importance of omnichannel measurement in the CPG (Consumer Packaged Goods) industry. Sree Rajagopalan interviews Kim Cox of NielsenIQ about NIQ’s "Full View" measurement platform. The conversation dives into how this platform provides brands and retailers with granular, actionable insights across brick-and-mortar, e-commerce, and emerging digital channels, enabling real business management rather than simple reporting. They discuss platform differentiation, private label trends, social commerce, data integration, and the future of omnichannel analytics.
1. What Is NielsenIQ’s Full View Measurement?
[04:07–05:49]
- Full View Measurement is NIQ’s comprehensive approach to view and analyze consumer activity across all sales channels with unprecedented granularity and breadth.
- Goal: Serve the broadest, most granular, and actionable view possible.
- Beyond POS (Point of Sale): Goes past final purchase signals to include buyer behavior, digital shelf insights, panels, alternative data sources, and synthetic POS data.
- Kim emphasizes the shift from exclusive reliance on POS data to incorporating "synthetic POS" from various digital traces.
Quote:
“Consumers shop in an omni-commerce way…we can’t rely only on retail point-of-sale data.” – Kim Cox [04:29]
2. Evolution and Differentiation of Full View
[06:37–07:09]
- NIQ has invested heavily in combining demand signals with advanced data science (AI, product coding, enhanced global platforms).
- Synthetic Data: Where granular retailer data is unavailable (ex: Amazon), NIQ creates detailed, usable data sets matching other channels’ quality.
- Key differentiator: Real account-level, item-level insights for both retailers and brands—compared to competitive "top-line, share reporting."
- Amazon as Proof-of-Concept: NIQ coded millions of Amazon ASINs to UPCs, making Amazon's view consistent with the rest of the retail universe.
- “Every Monday you can analyze your Amazon sales and share, pricing, promotion, alongside any other retailer like Walmart or Target.” – Kim Cox [10:16]
3. Groundbreaking Amazon and Costco Data Coverage
[10:16–14:59]
- Amazon: NIQ is the only platform enabling side-by-side, ASIN-level competitive analysis of Amazon vs. other key retailers—critical as Amazon experiences 20% YoY CPG growth.
- Costco: Similar account- and item-level data, including private label insights (Kirkland), new item launches, price comparisons, and more.
- Enables manufacturers to monitor, diagnose, and plan business, not just report (e.g., understanding Kirkland’s 35% CPG share—a 2-point increase in one year).
- Quote:
“You can look at leading and lagging UPCs, for your competitors—price, growth, new items—across both Amazon and Costco in one platform.” – Kim Cox [12:01]
4. Power of Private Label Insights
[17:11–20:20]
- Full View brings deep visibility into private label trends, e.g., Kirkland’s 48% share in baby care at Costco, 35% of Costco’s total CPG.
- Manufacturers can refine strategy knowing exactly where, how, and at what price private label competes—down to the flavor/SKU level.
- Competitive Edge: Most other offerings lack this SKU-level, item-level granularity; NIQ’s approach is based on massive receipt harvesting/data modeling, not limited panels or masked high-level data.
- “If Kirkland is selling four different flavors of sparkling water…you can see trends and back up your recommendation with data.” – Kim Cox [18:10]
- “Panel solutions are great, but not at the item/SKU level weekly. That’s where receipt-level data is powerful.” – Kim Cox [21:36]
5. Emerging Trends and The Omnichannel Landscape
[24:24–27:29]
- With 91% of consumers shopping both in-store and online, brands must monitor new consumer behaviors:
- Amazon Perishables: Only 18% of Amazon’s sales are food, vs 58% for top 7 U.S. retailers—indicating a major growth white space.
- Instacart & pickup have a tried-and-true fulfillment perception; Amazon must build trust in perishables.
“Amazon has a ways to go to convince consumers they can deliver fresh products safely.” – Kim Cox [26:20]
- Digital presence, especially on platforms like TikTok Shop, is essential—not just for sales but engagement and halo effects on other retail channels.
6. Social Commerce, Digital Shelf, and Next-Gen Data
[28:02–31:52]
- Digital Shelf: NIQ offers granular digital shelf analytics (price, assortment, ratings/reviews) for channels including Amazon, TikTok Shop, Target.com, etc.
- Social Commerce (TikTok, etc.): Fast-growing, especially in beauty—NIQ’s measurement is strong at the brand or category level, with plans to deepen granularity as demand rises.
- Next-Gen Data Collection: Includes e-receipts, email scraping, shipment pooling, and clean room/CRM integrations powered by a panel of 3 million+ participants.
- Enables longitudinal consumer analysis and category cross-shop analysis.
- Quote:
“If you have a huge CRM or loyalty card program, we can match it with our 3 million person panel—really opens up a wealth of analytical possibilities.” – Kim Cox [32:12]
7. The Platform, User Interface, and AI Integration
[34:18–37:35]
- User Interface: Highly visual, intuitive, integrates all data sources (consumer panel, measurement, digital shelf) in one global platform.
- AI Feature: "Ask Arthur," an AI-powered, ChatGPT-like assistant for querying and interpreting data, launched over a year ago and continually evolving. Helps democratize analysis, allowing senior leaders to get direct insights without analyst mediation.
- “Now a senior leader can put out a statement and get relevant information—no need to go levels down.” – Sree Rajagopalan [37:16]
8. Diagnosing Growth & Distribution, Applying Full View in Practice
[38:31–41:37]
- Enables causal analysis (e.g., correlating retail media share of voice with sales), buyer segmentation, and category diagnostics across any retailer at any level.
- Distribution Metrics: Both Amazon and Costco coverage includes granular distribution, pricing, promotional, and performance metrics—crucial for business management and strategy.
- “Distribution is absolutely unforgivable for sales teams…yes, you can analyze distribution, pricing, promotions, and more, at the SKU level.” – Kim Cox [41:01]
9. The Future of Omnicommerce Measurement
[42:14–43:13]
- Technology, data, and consumer habit evolution are accelerating.
- Future requires agile, integrated, granular data sets—fast-updating and comprehensive—so that brands’ AI and analytics engines can power strategic planning, category management, RGM, and supply chain optimization.
- “Having that really robust, granular, high-quality, fast-to-update data set without a lot of holes is going to help advance companies’ AI journey over the next 3-5 years.” – Kim Cox [43:06]
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
- Kim Cox on granularity:
"Our commitment is to bring the broadest measurement universe, but also the most granular... that makes it actionable." [04:12]
- On competitive advantage:
“NIQ is the only place that... you can analyze Amazon sales, share, pricing, promotion—alongside any other retailer.” [10:16]
- Private label impact:
“Kirkland now represents about 35% of Costco's CPG sales and that increased two share points over the past year.” [17:40]
- Future focus:
“Trends are evolving faster than ever... companies need fast, integrated, high-quality, granular data, digital causals, and robust analytic tools.” [43:00]
Key Takeaways
- NIQ Full View is unique for its breadth, depth, and actionability—enabling real-time, cross-retailer business management at SKU-level.
- Amazon and Costco coverage (including private label) at this granularity is unrivaled, giving critical insight for growth and defense strategies.
- Digital shelf, social commerce, and next-gen panel/clean room integration ensure emerging channels and behaviors are captured.
- The platform’s AI features (“Ask Arthur”) and focus on user experience allow business leaders quick, relevant insights—demystifying data.
- Robust, real-time, integrated data is essential for brands and retailers to compete, innovate, and manage in an omnichannel world.
Resource Links
(Ads, sponsor mentions, and intros/outros omitted as per instructions.)