Schaumburg, IL – February 27, 2006 – ACNielsen U.S. today announced the delivery of its Homescan® Consumer & Shopper Insights Suite, marking the earliest time a full-year database of syndicated consumer shopping behavior has become available from the company.
  
The Consumer & Shopper Insights Suite offers consumer behavior across 96 custom-projected Retailer Trading Areas, providing a greatly expanded view of retail shopper behavior. This broader geographic coverage of trading areas is a direct result of the expansion of the Homescan consumer panel to 125,000 households. The Trading Areas represent a retailer-defined view of the consumer landscape which provides more accurate demographic and shopping behavior reads and fosters alignment for better manufacturer - retailer collaboration. Trading Areas feature increased sample sizes when compared with traditional local market views, to enable better coverage of shoppers across the marketplace.

“The Consumer and Shopper Insights Suite provides the most accurate reflection of a retailer’s true marketplace,” said Joe Bucherer, vice president of marketing. “With our expanded panel size and geographic coverage, the Suite is an unparalleled tool for today’s manufacturers and retailers. And now, we have launched it earlier than ever before, giving marketers an early lead in understanding how their consumers are shopping.”

While the expanded Trading Areas are a new feature, the Consumer & Shopper Insights Suite has also expanded its local market coverage to offer nine new local markets (for a total of 32); released new channel reads including automotive and liquor retailers; and introduced the largest syndicated reporting sample available of 91,500 households. In addition, the enhanced web delivery, which now includes a new trending template, makes access to valuable consumer insights even faster and more intuitive.
  
The Consumer & Shopper Insights Suite includes Consumer Facts, which provides brand level consumer purchase behavior and demographic insights; Channel Facts, for category-level consumer purchase information by channel/account; Account Shopper Profiler, providing demographic and new shopping trip profiles of channel/retailer accounts; and Cross Outlet Facts, which helps users understand shopper loyalty and dollar opportunity outside for key product group segments.

“Together, the elements that make up our Suite provide our clients with valuable insights around shopping behavior and category activity across all major channels of trade,” said Bucherer. “It is information that is critical to building successful category management and customer planning strategies, and it is available earlier in the year than ever before.”

ACNielsen, a VNU business, is the world’s leading marketing information provider. Offering services in more than 100 countries, the unit provides measurement and analysis of marketplace dynamics and consumer attitudes and behavior. Clients rely on ACNielsen’s market research, proprietary products, analytical tools and professional service to understand competitive performance, to uncover new opportunities and to raise the profitability of their marketing and sales campaigns.
  

Contact:  Mark Chesney, 1-847-605-5170.