SHERIDAN, WYOMING - April 14, 2026 - Circana, formed from the merger of IRI and NPD Group, operates as a data, technology, and analytics provider for consumer packaged goods companies, durables manufacturers, and retailers. The firm's Liquid Data® technology platform aggregates and processes data spanning $5.8 trillion in global consumer spend, actively tracking 42 million CPG and general merchandise items across 477,000 store locations. With a client and partner base exceeding 7,000 organizations worldwide and a stated technology investment surpassing $1 billion, Circana covers 26 industry categories ranging from food and beverage and health and wellness to automotive aftermarket and entertainment.
Platform Architecture and Capabilities
Circana's Liquid Data® platform operates on algorithms trained on six decades of accumulated domain expertise, enabling access to sales data, consumer behavior signals, and forward-looking market indicators. The product suite spans Liquid Data Go, Liquid Data Engage, Liquid Data Collaborate, and Liquid AI, each targeting distinct operational use cases from self-service analytics to enterprise-level data collaboration. On the measurement side, the portfolio includes tools for marketing mix modeling, retail media audience targeting, on-shelf availability monitoring, and supply chain disruption analysis. The platform's stated design priority is customizability and speed, intended to allow clients to move from insight to operational action without long implementation cycles.
Business Impact
The platform's commercial value proposition centers on market share measurement, demand forecasting, and growth acceleration for manufacturers, retailers, and media networks. Ben Tiener, Director of Gulp Media Network at 7-Eleven, described the operational rationale behind a long-running data partnership: "7-Eleven has worked with Circana for a long time, as our data partner of record for broader analytic purposes. As we then launched Gulp Media Network, it was a natural fit to lean on that expertise, knowledge of our business, and the capabilities that Circana brought to build audiences and to analyze efficacy of media campaigns." Kiersten Hafer, Vice President of Strategy and Domestic Market Development at a client organization, highlighted the in-store testing methodology: "The unique difference with the Circana solution was using consumer behavior in an in-store test using real data dollar sales to predict the impact." These use cases illustrate how the platform is applied across both media attribution and product portfolio decisions simultaneously.
Recent Research Outputs
Circana's current published research illustrates the platform's analytical reach across geographies and emerging consumer trends. The firm's European analysis found the plant-based food and beverage category reached €16.3 billion in sales, while still representing only 2.4% of total FMCG spend-a ratio with direct implications for retailer shelf-space allocation and manufacturer portfolio investment. In the U.S. market, Circana has released its 2025 CPG Growth Leaders rankings, a benchmark used across the packaged goods sector to identify category performance. The company also operates a dedicated GLP-1 Insights Hub, tracking how the adoption of weight-loss drugs is reshaping consumer purchasing patterns across multiple CPG and food service categories.
Sector Context
Circana operates at the intersection of retail measurement, consumer research, and AI-driven forecasting-a segment where longitudinal data scale increasingly determines credibility and client retention. The firm's combined IRI-NPD heritage provides historical data assets that newer entrants cannot replicate quickly, and its cross-category coverage positions it as a single-source platform across functions that would otherwise require multiple vendor relationships. Retailers, CPG manufacturers, general merchandise brands, and media networks are its primary client segments-all facing tighter alignment requirements between sales performance, supply chain, and marketing spend. The $1 billion-plus technology investment figure signals continued infrastructure build-out, though specific deployment timelines and infrastructure details were not disclosed in available materials.
Key facts:
- Circana tracks $5.8 trillion in global consumer spend across 477,000 monitored store locations
- 42 million CPG and general merchandise items are actively tracked on the Liquid Data® platform
- The company reports more than 7,000 clients and partners worldwide
- European plant-based food and drink reached €16.3 billion but represents only 2.4% of total FMCG sales, per Circana analysis
- Liquid Data® algorithms are trained on six decades of domain expertise accumulated through the IRI and NPD legacy