Circana

Circana is a market research and data analytics company created through the combination of Information Resources, Inc., often known as IRI, and The NPD Group. The companies announced their merger in November 2022, and the combined business began operating under the Circana corporate brand name in February 2023.

The company’s central business is measuring what people buy and why they buy it. Circana combines retail point-of-sale information, consumer-panel research, surveys, and analytical tools to produce views of markets, brands, categories, and shopping behavior. Its work is used by manufacturers and retailers to evaluate sales, distribution, pricing, promotions, product launches, and changes in consumer demand. Rather than focusing on a single sector, the company maintains data and expertise across multiple consumer industries, a breadth inherited from the two predecessor organizations.

IRI brought decades of grocery and consumer packaged goods measurement, while NPD was especially associated with tracking discretionary and durable categories. Before the merger, NPD reported sales and consumer trends in areas such as toys, technology, books, entertainment, apparel, footwear, beauty, and home. Its point-of-sale services helped companies understand product performance at retailers, while its consumer research examined purchase intentions, usage, and attitudes. These capabilities became components of Circana’s broader measurement platform.

Circana also publishes recurring public analyses that make its data visible beyond client work. Its reports have addressed inflation’s effects on consumer purchasing, the performance of private-label products, food and beverage trends, and changes in technology spending. The company’s analysts frequently compare dollar sales with unit or volume sales, an important distinction when higher prices make revenue appear stronger even as quantities decline. Circana’s consumer insights therefore connect transaction data with the reasons behind observed market movements.

Circana’s corporate identity reflects a practical change in the research industry: clients increasingly want connected views of retail activity and individual consumers instead of isolated reports. The merger gave the organization the opportunity to combine IRI’s strength in fast-moving consumer goods with NPD’s long-standing coverage of general merchandise and services. That combination matters when a question crosses major categories—for example, how household budgets shift between food, entertainment, apparel, and durable goods.

The company does not operate as a retailer or manufacture the products it measures. Its role is to collect, organize, model, and interpret market information, delivering it through consulting, software, reports, and subscriptions. Circana’s value rests on dataset quality, methodological consistency, and analysts’ ability to explain market movements clearly to clients.