Circana – the data powerhouse formed by the merger of IRI and The NPD Group – is a leading provider of market measurement solutions. It helps brands and retailers understand how consumers behave across channels, categories, and purchase moments. With a combination of point-of-sale, panel, and loyalty data, Circana enables teams to map purchasing trends, spot category shifts, and analyze omni-channel flows across both brick-and-mortar and online environments.

In the context of shopper behavior, Circana's strength lies in its ability to track sales across multiple retailers and touchpoints. Whether shoppers are purchasing through big-box retailers, pure-play e-commerce platforms, or navigating click-and-collect models, Circana’s syndicated data provides a consistent, wide-angle view of what’s happening in the market.

Tracking Omni-Channel Journeys with Circana

One of the most valued capabilities of Circana is its omni-channel tracking – the ability to integrate and harmonize sales data from different channels and retailers. For organizations focused on consumer insights, this can support:

• Understanding channel switching behavior – for example, when consumers start preferring online grocery orders over in-store trips
• Performing shopper mission analysis – identifying the intent behind purchases and how that impacts channel preference
• Segmenting shopper behavior – isolating demographic or behavioral trends across platforms

Teams often use Circana’s dashboards, advanced analytics, and retailer-focused tools like POS tracking to measure baseline performance, compare retailer dynamics, and explore omni-channel sales volume. However, making sense of this data requires more than just access – it demands strong behavioral data interpretation and the strategic lens to understand the “why” beneath the “what.”

The Rise of DIY Tools – and the Need for Strategic Expertise

With more DIY analytics platforms and data visualization tools available, many teams are trying to maximize their insights work in-house. While this accelerates reporting and reduces costs, it can also expose blind spots when internal teams don’t have the time or experience to dive deep into omni-channel analysis. That’s where On Demand Talent can step in – bringing in experienced professionals who know how to make these tools work harder and deliver sharper, more targeted insights.

Even with powerful tools like Circana, brands often run into challenges when trying to connect the dots across channels. Omni-channel data may show a shift from in-store to online, or growth in click-and-collect, but without deeper context, it’s hard to pinpoint why those changes are happening and what actions to take.

Challenge #1: Assuming Behavior Is the Same Across Channels

One of the most common mistakes when analyzing omni-channel data is treating all sales data equally. In reality, a shopper buying the same product online may be doing it with a very different mission than someone buying it in-store. For instance, a parent replenishing school snacks online may be focused on efficiency and price, while an in-store purchase may be more impulse-driven.

This is where shopper mission analysis becomes essential. Without understanding the intent or need state behind a purchase, it’s easy to misinterpret loyalty, pricing sensitivity, and trip patterns – leading to flawed conclusions about marketing strategy or assortment planning.

Challenge #2: Missing Subtle Shifts in Channel Preferences

Channel switching behavior doesn’t always happen in dramatic waves. Small, gradual shifts – like a slow increase in mobile ordering after 8 PM – can add up over time. These patterns may be buried in the data if not regularly monitored or mapped across full path-to-purchase journeys.

To detect these trends in Circana reporting, teams need to move beyond high-level dashboards and dive into segment-level behaviors, regional splits, or time-of-day analysis. Often, these deeper dives are skipped due to tight bandwidth or lack of modeling expertise.

Challenge #3: Lack of Behavioral Interpretation

Numbers alone don’t tell the whole story. Without translating metrics into actionable behavior-driven insights, data risks remaining descriptive rather than strategic. For example, a dip in online sales might signal more than just e-commerce fatigue – it could reflect shifting price perceptions, delivery frustration, or competitor promotions.

This is where consumer insights support becomes critical. Insights professionals with behavioral science or category management backgrounds can help overlay psychological context onto hard data, unlocking a clearer picture of shopper motivations.

When On Demand Talent Can Help

• You’re getting good Circana reports – but they aren’t turning into clear actions
• Your team doesn’t have the time or background to analyze complex cross-channel shifts
• You want to train your existing team to better leverage your marketing research tools

Instead of leaning on internal resources already at max capacity or bringing in generalist consultants, many organizations are turning to On Demand Talent – experienced insights professionals who can step in immediately, analyze omni-channel shopper insights at a deeper level, and build team capability along the way.

DIY research tools – including platforms provided by Circana – have become invaluable for collecting real-time shopper data across in-store and online environments. However, while these tools excel at tracking purchases and spotting behavioral patterns, they often fall short in identifying why those patterns exist. This is where the human side of shopper behavior gets lost.

Understanding shopper missions – the reason a consumer enters a store or visits an e-commerce platform – goes far beyond digital dashboards. Two shoppers might both purchase snack items at convenience stores, but one may be grabbing something quick on a commute, while another shops during a school run. Without this layer of insight, brands risk making decisions based on surface-level data, missing the nuances that drive brand loyalty and category shifts.

Here are a few common issues that arise when relying solely on DIY data platforms for insights:

• Limited ability to interpret emotion and motivation: Tools can track what people buy and where, but not necessarily what influenced those choices or how shoppers felt about them.
• Misreading behavioral shifts: A jump in online traffic may look like a trend, but could actually result from a promotional shift, competitor stockout, or seasonal behavior change.
• Lack of context behind channel switching behavior: Consumers frequently switch between online and offline buying without clear patterns unless viewed through a contextual, human lens.

Beyond reading the charts, effective insight work involves connecting the dots between behavioral data interpretation and the broader shopper mission analysis. That connection is difficult – if not impossible – to automate. Human experts can identify subtle motives, preference changes, and emotional nuances that make a data set meaningful for business decisions.

This doesn’t mean stepping away from DIY platforms like Circana. Instead, it’s about pairing them with strategic minds who can translate data into action – which is where On Demand Talent brings critical value to teams under pressure to deliver fast, high-quality insights in a cost-effective way.

DIY dashboards and reporting tools from Circana give brands powerful visibility into omnichannel shopper insights. But turning that data into decisions takes experience. Without internal capacity or the right mix of skills, it’s easy for insight teams to fall into reporting mode – focusing on what’s happening, rather than asking why it’s happening and what to do next.

On Demand Talent offers a solution by embedding highly skilled, flexible insights professionals directly into research teams. These experts know how to get the most out of Circana’s platforms by applying behavioral thinking, strategic interpretation, and storytelling frameworks that make reports not just informative, but actionable.

Key ways On Demand Talent experts support your Circana investment include:

• Identifying subtle shifts in channel preference: Our professionals can detect early signals that indicate shoppers are beginning to explore new paths to purchase – before the data shows large-scale changes.
• Aligning data with business priorities: Rather than just delivering dashboards, they help teams sort through what matters most for upcoming launches, portfolio reassessments, or shopper marketing campaigns.
• Surfacing critical insights from complex dashboards: Circana tools often contain layers of reports, filters, and segments. On Demand Talent knows how to dig in and extract what matters.
• Distinguishing noise from actionable change: Not every data swing signals a market disruption. Our experts know how to flag the differences that really demand cross-functional response.

For example, in a fictional case involving a health and wellness brand, On Demand Talent helped the team understand that a drop in in-store sales wasn't due to channel cannibalization – but rather driven by a shift in shopper mission, as buyers moved from routine “restock” trips towards targeted “exploration” online purchases. That interpretation changed the strategy from fixing shelf placement to improving digital content.

Whether you’re launching a product, reassessing channel strategies, or needing help with how to use Circana to map cross-channel journeys, On Demand Talent helps your team unlock the “why” behind consumer choices – so you can act smarter and faster.

Knowing when to scale your team with flexible support can make the difference between simply analyzing shopper data and actually driving better business outcomes. Circana reports are full of potential – but only if your team has the time, strategic bandwidth, and analytical expertise to mine that value consistently.

Here are some clear signs it’s time to bring in additional market research support through a flexible model:

Your team is overwhelmed with reporting, not recommendation-making

If too much effort goes into building presentations or pulling data instead of crafting insights that influence commerce, brand, or category teams, capacity is strained. On Demand Talent allows your core team to focus on what matters most.

You’ve invested in Circana but aren’t seeing its full value

If Circana shopper data isn’t driving decisions around product placement, pricing, or messaging, you’re likely underutilizing it. Flexible experts can step in to make sure your investment pays off.

You need to analyze shopper behavior across digital and physical channels – fast

Cross-channel insights often require cutting across silos, stitching together mission-level understanding, and capturing nuance in decision-making. On Demand Talent doesn’t just fill a gap in team size – they boost your ability to act faster and more accurately.

You’re experiencing team transitions or short-term role vacancies

Rather than rushing a permanent hire or delaying key projects, tapping into On Demand Talent lets you move forward without compromise in quality or productivity.

You want to build internal capabilities

Our professionals don’t just direct work – they also train and upskill internal staff, helping teams improve long-term capability around how to analyze Circana data effectively and become more self-sufficient.

Brands that strategically integrate flexible consumer insights support during these moments avoid common pitfalls such as unnecessary rework, delayed decision-making, or surface-level findings that fail to inspire action.

SIVO's On Demand Talent has helped businesses large and small – across industries from food and beverage to healthcare and retail – close talent gaps, optimize research investments, and keep momentum going even during team change or resource limitations. It’s not about adding bodies to the room. It’s about bringing in the right minds, at the right time.