Retail & Loyalty Program Data
Your shopping habits are for sale
How Loyalty Cards Feed the Data Broker Ecosystem
Every time you swipe a loyalty card, scan a receipt, or clip a digital coupon, you’re feeding a data pipeline that extends far beyond the checkout lane. Grocery chains tie 90–96% of transactions to loyalty cards.[1] Every item purchased, price paid, time, and store location is logged. That data flows to analytics subsidiaries, CPG brand advertisers, and data brokers who combine it with credit card records, public databases, and other sources to build comprehensive consumer profiles.
The biggest development in this space is the rise of Retail Media Networks (RMNs) — retailers monetizing customer data through targeted advertising. U.S. retail media ad spending reached nearly $60 billion in 2024 and is projected to exceed $100 billion by 2027,[2] with Walmart Connect alone generating $4.4 billion in global revenue.[3]
Retail Data Analytics Companies
Catalina Marketing Corporation
What they are: A leader in shopper intelligence and personalized CPG marketing, powered by real-time point-of-sale data. Founded in 1983 when point-of-sale scanner technology swept the retail industry.[4] Taken private by Hellman & Friedman in 2007, then sold to Berkshire Partners in 2014.[5]
Bankruptcy — twice: Filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December 2018 as revenues contracted amid the industry shift to digital, reducing its debt by 85% — from $1.9 billion to $276 million — and emerged in February 2019 under new ownership by its existing lenders.[6] Then filed for Chapter 11 a second time on March 29, 2023, in the Southern District of New York. The prepackaged plan included selling its Japan division for $103 million and reducing its remaining $370 million in debt by more than two-thirds to approximately $110 million. The court confirmed the plan on April 28, 2023, and the case was terminated on May 12, 2023.[7]
What data they have: Captures 440 million loyalty cards and over 11 billion shopping trips annually from grocery, drug, and mass retail channels.[8] Uses first-party UPC-level retail transaction data tied to frequent shopper cards, delivered in real-time from integrations into retailers’ POS systems.[8] More than 400 million unique shopper IDs across 700+ audience segments.[9]
Recent developments: In September 2025, launched CatalinaRx, a consumer healthcare marketing solution connecting pharmaceutical, OTC, and health-adjacent CPG brands with consumers through a network of 10,750 retail pharmacy stores reaching more than 150 million unique shoppers.[10] In November 2025, launched Catalina UNLIMITED, expanding the reach of shopper marketing beyond grocery into online, in-store, and connected media channels.[11]
Who buys it: CPG brands, pharmaceutical companies, retailers, and marketing agencies.
84.51° (Kroger)
What they are: Kroger’s wholly-owned retail data science and analytics subsidiary. Created in April 2015 when Kroger acquired certain assets from dunnhumbyUSA (the U.S. joint venture with Tesco), replacing their existing exclusive partnership with a new long-term license and service agreement. More than 500 dunnhumbyUSA employees became associates of 84.51°, which received a perpetual license to use dunnhumby’s analytical tools.[12] The name refers to the longitude (84.51° West) of the venture’s headquarters in Cincinnati.[13]
What data they have: First-party retail data from 60+ million U.S. households, sourced through the Kroger Plus loyalty card program. 96% of Kroger customer transactions are tied to a loyalty card — what 84.51°’s CEO called “the most robust data set in the industry.”[1]
Revenue: Kroger’s “Alternative Profit Businesses” — including advertising via 84.51°, data services, and Kroger Precision Marketing — contributed $1.35 billion in operating profit in 2024, with media-related revenue growing 17% year-over-year.[14] Kroger’s alternative profit business represents more than 35% of the company’s total net income.[15]
Consumer Reports investigation (May 2025): A joint investigation by Consumer Reports, The Guardian, and the Food & Environment Reporting Network recruited “secret shoppers” at 24+ Kroger stores in 14 states.[15] Key findings: Kroger uses an “income predictor” that can be inaccurate, potentially leading to discriminatory pricing — a shopper deemed to have less education or lower income could end up receiving fewer of Kroger’s best discounts. Shopper profiles contained errors about gender, age, household size, income, and education level. Individual customer data was shared with 50+ companies including data brokers, tobacco companies, and financial institutions.[16]
dunnhumby (Tesco)
What they are: A global customer data science company founded in 1989 by Clive Humby and Edwina Dunn. Originally gained prominence for creating the Tesco Clubcard loyalty program in 1994, which helped Tesco overtake Sainsbury’s in the UK retail market. Tesco acquired full ownership of dunnhumby incrementally — 53% in 2001, 84% in 2006, and the remaining shares thereafter.[17]
What data they have: Behavioral data from over 24 million Tesco Clubcard households — up by more than a million since 2024 — representing 28.5% of the UK grocery market.[18] Employs more than 2,500 people in 30+ countries.[17] In 2021, Tesco launched its Media and Insight Platform, powered by dunnhumby, as the UK’s largest closed-loop grocery media platform, connecting advertising exposure to customer behavior across online and offline touchpoints.[18]
Why it matters: dunnhumby pioneered the modern model of retailers monetizing loyalty data. Selling insights to CPG companies including Procter & Gamble and Coca-Cola became 80% of the company’s revenues.[17] This same model — build a loyalty program, collect granular purchase data, then monetize it through analytics and advertising — is now the blueprint for every major retailer.
Circana (formerly IRI + NPD Group)
What they are: Created from the merger of Information Resources Inc. (IRI) and NPD Group, completed August 2022. Rebranded as Circana on March 7, 2023.[19] A leading global technology, analytics, and data provider.
What data they have: Tracks millions of products across 2,000+ categories in 500,000+ stores across 20 countries. Serves approximately 7,000 clients across CPG, softlines, hardlines, beauty, technology, foodservice, and food consumption.[19]
Recent acquisitions: Completed acquisition of NCSolutions (the former joint venture between Nielsen and Catalina) on June 2, 2025, expanding media measurement capabilities.[20] Completed acquisition of Nielsen’s Marketing Mix Modeling (MMM) business in August 2025.[21]
Cardlytics / Bridg
What they are: An advertising platform that partners with banks to analyze transaction data. Acquired consumer data startup Bridg in May 2021 for $350 million in cash at closing, plus potential earnout payments of $100–$300 million based on Bridg’s annualized revenue run rate.[22]
What data they have: Bank transaction-level data combined with SKU-level purchase insights. Bridg’s proprietary Identity Resolution platform converts in-store transactions into enriched customer profiles, connecting to 90% of U.S. point-of-sale systems — including customers not enrolled in loyalty programs.[23]
Collapse: Bank of America notified Cardlytics that its agreement would not be renewed upon its expiration on July 31, 2025.[24] Cardlytics announced a 30% workforce reduction (~120 employees) on October 2, 2025, projecting $2.3 million in severance costs and annualized savings of at least $26 million.[25] The company reported a $189.3 million net loss for the full year 2024.[25] In January 2026, PAR Technology agreed to acquire Bridg for just $27.5 million (up to $30 million maximum), payable in PAR stock — a 92% decline from the original acquisition price.[26]
Receipt Scanning & Cashback Apps
Ibotta
What they are: Digital marketing platform offering consumers cash rebates through receipt scanning. IPO’d on April 18, 2024, raising approximately $577 million at an $88/share price (implied $2.67 billion valuation) — priced above the initial $76–$84 range due to strong demand. Ticker: IBTA on NYSE.[27]
What data they have: Each receipt photo is converted into data per item tied to the user, store, location, price, and brand. Receipt data contains detailed information including UPC, price, quantity, date, time, retailer, and store location. Operates the Ibotta Performance Network (IPN), a network of publishers allowing marketers to offer digital promotions to 200+ million consumers. The IPN averaged 14.7 million redeemers in 2024 — up 78% from 8.2 million in 2023 — driven by the expansion of Walmart to all Walmart.com account holders and the launch of Instacart and Family Dollar.[28]
Revenue: Full year 2024 total revenue of $367.3 million (15% YoY increase). Total redemption revenue reached $308.8 million, an increase of 27% year-over-year.[28]
Fetch Rewards
What they are: Receipt-scanning rewards app with 12.5 million monthly active users. Users upload photos of grocery receipts and receive cash-back rewards. Valued at over $2.5 billion, having raised $583 million in total funding across 14 rounds, including a $240 million equity and debt round.[29] Captures over $152 billion in transactions annually.[30]
Revenue: In Q4 2024, Fetch achieved an annual revenue run rate of $500 million, marking a 65% increase year-over-year.[31] The company states that data is anonymized and that it does not store full credit/debit card details — receipts only show last four digits.[30]
NCSolutions (NC Ventures LLC)
What they were: Originally a joint venture between Nielsen and Catalina. Provided CPG advertising effectiveness services based on actual offline sales data. Acquired by Circana on June 2, 2025.[20]
What data they had: Purchase-based audience targeting and sales measurement solutions for the CPG ecosystem. Converted receipt/store data into advertising measurement, connecting ad exposure to in-store purchases.
Retail Media Networks
The biggest shift in retail data is that retailers are now monetizing customer data directly through Retail Media Networks (RMNs), selling targeted advertising powered by first-party purchase data. These are not traditional raw data selling — retailers use first-party data to power targeted advertising and analytics services sold to brand advertisers. The effect is the same: detailed consumer purchase behavior is being monetized at scale.
For context, the digital advertising market remains dominated by Google ($264.6 billion in ad revenue in 2024)[35] and Meta ($160 billion in ad revenue in 2024, with retailers investing over $20 billion on Meta’s advertising tools alone).[36] Retail media networks are growing precisely because retailers possess something Google and Meta do not: deterministic, item-level purchase data tied to real transactions. Google is responding by integrating retailer first-party data into YouTube and Display & Video 360, partnering with retailers including Costco to create a commerce media solution — effectively blurring the line between tech platform and retail media network.[37]