Circana
| File:Circana logo.png | |
| Formerly |
|
|---|---|
| Company type | Privately held company |
| Industry | Market research |
| Founded | September 28, 1966 (as National Purchase Diary Panel Inc.) |
| Headquarters | Chicago, Illinois , U.S. |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Kirk Perry (chief executive officer) |
| Products | |
| Owner | Hellman & Friedman |
| Website | circana |
Circana, Inc., previously known as Information Resources, Inc. and the NPD Group (initially founded as National Purchase Diary Panel Inc. and later NPD Research Inc.), is a U.S.-based market research and technology company headquartered in Chicago. According to the 2017 AMA Gold Report Top 50, NPD was ranked as the eighth largest global market research firm.<ref>The NPD Group operates across more than 20 industries in 20 countries worldwide. The current corporate identity, Circana, was established in 2023 following a merger with IRI.<ref>Circana provides support to retailers, manufacturers, financial analysts, and government entities by delivering performance measurement, trend forecasting, marketing and product development enhancement, and market opportunity identification through specialized consulting across diverse sectors.<ref>
In July 1999, NPD collaborated with GfK to acquire Intelect ASW, a market research company focused on consumer electronics, IT, and home appliances.<ref> Early in 2001, NPD acquired the principal operations of PC Data, merging them into NPD Intelect along with the transfer of personnel.<ref> By the end of 2001, NPD had introduced divisions dedicated to console gaming (NPDFunworld) and technology/software markets (NPDTechworld).<ref> Utilizing data from retail point-of-sale and consumer panels, NPD delivers sales monitoring, analytical tools, custom reports, and advisory services.<ref>
Since 1995, NPD has monitored the North American video game industry, with its Toy Retail Survey Tracking (TRST) system recognized as the authoritative source for sales data throughout the 1990s.<ref> Additionally, the company operates VIP Voice, a platform collecting consumer feedback on products and services through surveys.<ref>
In October 2021, private equity firm Hellman & Friedman finalized an agreement to acquire NPD.<ref>
NPD's market presence spans the United States, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.<ref>
From January 2017 onward, NPD has owned BookScan and associated services obtained from Nielsen Company’s U.S. book market information division. These services are now managed under NPD Book domestically in the U.S., while NielsenIQ continues to provide comparable book-related offerings internationally.<ref>