NielsenIQ vs Circana
The short answer
NielsenIQ and Circana both sell retail sales data and consumer panels to CPG brands. Circana is IRI and NPD merged; NielsenIQ is Nielsen's former retail arm.
| NielsenIQ | Circana | |
|---|---|---|
| Formerly | Nielsen's retail measurement business | IRI and The NPD Group |
| Became its own company | 2021, sold by Nielsen | 2023 name, after the 2022 merger |
| Core product | Retail sales data and shopper panels | Retail sales data and shopper panels |
| Also known as | NIQ | Formerly IRI (Information Resources Inc.) |
| Not to be confused with | Nielsen, the TV and audience measurement company | Nothing; the name is new |
What is the difference between NielsenIQ and Circana?
They do the same job for the same customers and most large CPG companies buy from one or both. Each collects point-of-sale data from retailers and runs panels of households who record what they buy, and sells the result as category sales, market share and promotion analysis.
The differences are in coverage: which retailers share data with which firm, in which countries, and how each panel is built. Those vary by market and change with contracts, which is why brands usually choose based on whose data their main retailers share.
Is NielsenIQ the same as Nielsen?
Not any more. Nielsen sold its retail measurement business in 2021 and kept TV and audience ratings. The retail half trades as NielsenIQ, or NIQ, and later combined with GfK, the German market research firm. When a CPG brand says 'Nielsen data', it nearly always means NIQ.
What happened to IRI?
IRI merged with The NPD Group in 2022, and in 2023 the combined company took the name Circana. NPD was strong in general merchandise such as toys, apparel and electronics; IRI in grocery and consumer goods.
What neither of them measures
Both measure what was bought, after it was bought. Neither tells you what people are saying about a product in public before or after, which is the gap social data fills.
The conversation, next to the sales
Monitor Mentions measures the public side: how many posts mention a brand, who made them, what they are about, and how followers moved. It is not sales data and is not a substitute for it; it is the part sales data cannot see.
NielsenIQ vs Circana: questions people ask
Is Circana the same as IRI?
Circana is the company formed when IRI merged with The NPD Group in 2022. It adopted the Circana name in 2023.
Does NielsenIQ still belong to Nielsen?
No. Nielsen sold its retail measurement business in 2021, and it now runs as a separate company, NielsenIQ.
Do small D2C brands use NielsenIQ or Circana?
Usually not at the start. Their data mainly covers retail sales, so it becomes useful once a brand is on enough shelves to show up in it.