Wal*Mart Has Agreement to Use NPD Data

The research firm NPD Group has reached an agreement with Wal*Mart to provide consumer tracking data to the retailer, which is the world’s largest, Reuters reported Wednesday.

NPD will provide Wal*Mart with specific data about the approximately 3.5 million consumers in its research sample, across such sectors as electronics, entertainment, automotive aftermarket, fashion, and numerous others. The data will also be used by Wal*Mart’s wholesale subsidiary, Sam’s Club.

Wal*Mart earlier this year threw an even bigger wrench into the flat-panel price wars when it announced a major expansion into the consumer electronics market.