Circuit City has been a leader in consumer electronics retailing since 1949, when its predecessor, Ward’s, became Richmond, Virginia’s first television retailer. It’s now a Fortune 500 company with more than 600 stores in the U.S. As an NPD Retailer Partner, Circuit City looks to NPD market information and insights to keep an edge in today’s competitive consumer electronics and technology retailing arena. Andrew Gross, Strategic Insights Analyst for Circuit City Stores, Inc. recently shared his perspective on the value of NPD’s resources to Circuit City’s business decision-making.

NPD: What have been the greatest benefits of using NPD market information?

Andrew Gross: NPD has allowed us to monitor business trends, identify opportunities and benchmark progress in the CE marketplace. A primary benefit of utilizing NPD is the ability to tailor data delivery in order to meet our day to day internal reporting needs. This has served as a useful supplement to the syndicated reporting currently delivered through NPD Techworld.

NPD: What kinds of business challenges has NPD market information helped Circuit City address?

Andrew Gross: NPD’s flexibility with custom formats has been significant in our ability to reach a wider audience and embed market data within the organization.

NPD: In what ways has NPD market information been valuable to Circuit City’s decision-making?

Andrew Gross: We have been able to convert NPD data into valuable insight for our merchants and others across the organization by bringing to light potential opportunities within product assortments. In combination with consumer data, we are better equipped to understand our relative position in the industry.

NPD: Can you provide a specific example of a challenge NPD’s market information helped your company resolve?

Andrew Gross: Through our relationship with NPD, we have been able to customize reporting tools in order to meet the needs of a number of distinct clients. For example, individual teams now have the ability to access one consolidated view specific to their business, instead of filtering through fragmented reporting on-line to gather pertinent information.