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NPD Now Tracking Walmart Sales

by Jim Reilly on February 03, 2012 at 11:11 AM

3,567 Views

U.S. game sales just got a bit more accurate. NPD Group, a retail tracking firm, said today it reached an agreement with Walmart to receive and analyze its point-of-sale information.

Under this agreement, NPD will receive sales data from Walmart U.S. stores and walmart.com. The agreement covers "a broad set of general merchandise categories" spanning Entertainment, Apparel, Home, Hardlines, and Toys. NPD currently receives information from over 900 retailers representing 150,000 retail doors worldwide.

“This agreement is truly a game changer for NPD and for the industry,” said NPD president and COO Karyn Schoenbart. “With Walmart data, we will be able to provide our clients with world class information and solidify our leadership position as the premier source of market insight in our industries.

"We look forward to offering our clients the best information ever for understanding their customers in order to drive better decisions and grow their businesses.”

Previously, NPD has always projected to account for 100% of the video games market in the U.S., including Walmart.

Email the author Jim Reilly, or follow on Twitter, and Game Informer.

Filed under: News, npd, fiscalq32012

Comments

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by reidloS doG Friday, February 03, 2012 at 11:25 AM

Wasn't this announced awhile ago? I know it is confirmed today, but hasn't this deal been in the making for awhile?
by Aaron Quixote Friday, February 03, 2012 at 11:25 AM

I like how Walmart markets the cheapest new games when they're only 3 cents under retail, and often you can find better deals on the interwebs. Just the same, this is good news that they'll be tracking these figures.
by akhammer17 Friday, February 03, 2012 at 11:26 AM

Great that Wal-Mart signed on. Does the NPD numbers show used game sales or only new?
by Rich Friday, February 03, 2012 at 11:26 AM

Why wouldn't they Be tracking everything that sells new games from the first place? Obviously it's not gonna make a huge difference in the numbers but sales are sales.
by rekoin Friday, February 03, 2012 at 11:40 AM

Not that this will have a big affect on the gaming industry but, but i wonder if a lot more one man run gaming sight will rely on this info for bestsellers, best games etc. but i doubt it.
by luciablee Friday, February 03, 2012 at 12:50 PM

Kind of a boring piece, but I suppose it is still relevant to get more accurate data on customer's interactions with games.
by Tsuchikage Friday, February 03, 2012 at 02:13 PM

Great. Now, if only the NPD would actually release sales numbers like it used to, consumers might have a better understanding of what's going on in the industry.
by Dhughes60 Friday, February 03, 2012 at 06:57 PM

Shouldn't have the NPD Group been tracking Walmart sales in the first place?
by GENOC1DEofN00BS Saturday, February 04, 2012 at 06:58 AM

Well now their stats will get more accurate.
by Abertix24 Sunday, February 05, 2012 at 01:57 AM

This is cool news I suppose, more accurate representation of the games industry sales. Although Valve still won't release their data, I can totally see why.
by FallenAC Sunday, February 05, 2012 at 10:48 AM

This is pretty cool. I like seeing how games do sale wise but I don't know how big of an affect this actually will be.