Systems and methods for consumer price index determination using panel-based and point-of-sale market research data

1. A method to determine a consumer price index, the method comprising:

obtaining, at a processor, panelist market research data determined by monitoring items purchased by a plurality of statistically-selected panelists;

obtaining, at the processor, retail site market research data for items sold by a plurality of retail sites;

determining weighted equivalent unit pricing information by combining, using the processor, the panelist market research data and the retail site market research data to determine the weighted equivalent unit pricing information for each group of common items in an item stratum of the consumer price index having substantially similar attributes except for an amount per unit; and

determining the consumer price index using the weighted equivalent unit pricing information.

2. A method as defined in claim 1 wherein the panelist market research data comprises panelist demographic data, purchase pricing information, purchased brand identification information, purchased item type information, purchase location information, and purchased unit quantity information for the items purchased by the plurality of statistically-selected panelists during an interval of time measured by the consumer price index.

3. A method as defined in claim 1 wherein the retail site market research data comprises regular pricing information, promotional pricing information, sold item brand identification information, sold item type information, sale location information and sold unit quantity information for the products sold by the plurality of retail sites during an interval of time measured by the consumer price index.

4. A method as defined in claim 1 wherein combining the panelist market research data and the retail site market research data to determine the weighted equivalent unit pricing information comprises:

normalizing a price associated with each item in the group of common items by a respective amount per unit associated with the item;

combining the normalized price for each item to determine an equivalent unit price to associate with an equivalent item representative of the group of common items; and

determining a common group relative expenditure weight to associate with the equivalent unit price based on relative expenditure weights associated with each item in the group of common items.

5. A method as defined in claim 4 further comprising determining the price associated with each item in the group of common items by processing the retail site market research data to determine pricing information for each item sold by the plurality of retail sites and included in at least one item stratum of the consumer price index.

6. A method as defined in claim 5 wherein the pricing information determined by processing the retail site market research data comprises a regular price and a promoted price for at least some of the items sold by the plurality of retail sites and included in at least one item stratum of the consumer price index.

7. A method as defined in claim 6 wherein combining the normalized price for each item to determine the equivalent unit price to associate with the equivalent item representative of the group of common items comprises:

combining normalized regular prices associated with each item in the group of common items to determine an equivalent unit regular price to associate with the equivalent item representative of the group of common items; and

combining normalized promoted prices associated with each item in the group of common items to determine an equivalent unit promoted price to associate with the equivalent item representative of the group of common items.

8. A method as defined in claim 4 further comprising determining the relative expenditure weight associated with each item in the group of common items by processing the panelist market research data to determine relative expenditure weights for each item purchased by the plurality of statistically-selected panelists and included in at least one item stratum of the consumer price index.

9. A method as defined in claim 4 further comprising determining a relative equivalent unit expenditure weight for the representative equivalent item by accumulating the relative expenditure weights associated with the items included in the group of common items.

10. A method as defined in claim 1 wherein determining the consumer price index comprises:

determining first equivalent unit pricing information corresponding to a first interval of time for each group of common items in each item stratum of the consumer price index;

determining second equivalent unit pricing information corresponding to a second interval of time for each group of common items in each item stratum of the consumer price index;

combining ratios of respective first and second equivalent unit pricing information for each group of common items in each item stratum to determine a price differential associated with each item stratum; and

combining a plurality of determined price differentials associated with a respective plurality of item strata to determine the consumer price index.

11. A method as defined in claim 1 further comprising defining a plurality of item strata of the consumer index, wherein each item stratum is defined by specifying a unique set of attributes characteristic of items included in the particular item stratum.

12. A method as defined in claim 11 wherein the unique set of attributes are specified from a product reference dictionary listing attributes associated with all items represented by the panelist market research data and the retail site market research data.

13. A method as defined in claim 1 wherein the amount per unit comprises at least one of a quantity per unit or a unit size.

14. A method as defined in claim 1 wherein a group of common items has substantially similar attributes when items included in the common group have common brand identification information and common item type information.

15. A machine readable storage medium comprising machine readable instructions which, when executed, cause a machine to at least:

obtain panelist market research data determined by monitoring items purchased by a plurality of statistically-selected panelists;

obtain retail site market research data for items sold by a plurality of retail sites;

determine weighted equivalent unit pricing information by combining the panelist market research data and the retail site market research data to determine the weighted equivalent unit pricing information for each group of common items in an item stratum of a consumer price index having substantially similar attributes except for an amount per unit; and

determine the consumer price index using the weighted equivalent unit pricing information.

16. A storage medium as defined in claim 13 wherein the machine readable instructions, when executed, further cause the machine to combine the panelist market research data and the retail site market research data to determine weighted equivalent unit pricing information by:

normalizing a price associated with each item in the group of common items by a respective unit amount associated with the item;

combining the normalized prices for each item to determine an equivalent unit price to associate with an equivalent item representative of the group of common items; and

determining an equivalent unit relative expenditure weight to associate with the equivalent unit price based on relative expenditure weights associated with each item in the group of common items.

17. A storage medium as defined in claim 16 wherein the machine readable instructions, when executed, further cause the machine to determine the price associated with each item in the group of common items by processing the retail site market research data to determine pricing information for each item sold by the plurality of retail sites and included in at least one item stratum of the consumer price index.

18. A storage medium as defined in claim 16 wherein the machine readable instructions, when executed, further cause the machine to determine the relative expenditure weight associated with each item in the group of common items by processing the panelist market research data to determine relative expenditure weights for each item purchased by the plurality of statistically-selected panelists and included in at least one item stratum of the consumer price index.

19. A storage medium as defined in claim 13 wherein the machine readable instructions, when executed, further cause the machine to define a plurality of item strata of the consumer index, wherein each item stratum is defined by specifying a unique set of attributes characteristic of items included in the particular item stratum.

20. A system to determine a consumer price index, the system comprising:

a first storage unit to store panelist market research data determined by automatically monitoring items purchased by a plurality of statistically-selected panelists;

a second storage unit to store retail site market research data comprising point-of-sale data for items sold by a plurality of retail sites;

an equivalent unit pricing processor to determine weighted equivalent unit pricing information by electronically combining the panelist market research data electronically retrieved from the first storage unit and the retail site market research data electronically retrieved from the second storage unit to determine the weighted equivalent unit pricing information for each group of common items in an item stratum of the consumer price index having substantially similar attributes except for an amount per unit; and

a consumer price index processor to determine the consumer price index using the weighted equivalent unit pricing information.

21. A system as defined in claim 20 further comprising a data consolidator to determine relative expenditure weights for each item purchased by the plurality of statistically-selected panelists and included in at least one item stratum of the consumer price index based on the panelist market research data, wherein the determined relative expenditure weights are used by the equivalent unit pricing processor to determine the weighted equivalent unit pricing information.

22. A system as defined in claim 21 wherein the data consolidator is further to determine the relative expenditure weights for a specific panelist demographic based on panelist demographic information included in the panelist market research data.

23. A system as defined in claim 20 wherein the equivalent unit pricing processor is further to determine the weighted equivalent unit pricing information for a specific panelist demographic based on panelist demographic information included in the panelist market research data.

24. A system as defined in claim 20 wherein the equivalent unit pricing processor is configured to determine weighted equivalent unit regular pricing information and weighted equivalent unit promoted pricing information for each group of common items based on regular and promoted pricing information included in the retail site market research data.

25. A system as defined in claim 20 further comprising a consumer price index processor to:

combine the weighted equivalent unit pricing information determined for each group of common items in the item stratum to determine a price differential associated with the item stratum; and

combine a plurality of determined price differentials associated with a respective plurality of item strata to determine the consumer price index.

26. A system as defined in claim 20 wherein the first storage unit and the second storage unit are implemented by a common storage unit.

27. A system as defined in claim 20 further comprising a central data facility to obtain the panelist market research data and the retail site market research data.

28. A system as defined in claim 20 further comprising a market research data decoder to decode the panelist market research data to obtain panelist demographic data, purchase pricing information, purchased brand identification information, purchased item type information, purchase location information, and purchased unit quantity information for the items purchased by the plurality of statistically-selected panelists during an interval of time measured by the consumer price index, and to decode the retail site market research data to obtain regular pricing information, promotional pricing information, sold item brand identification information, sold item type information, sale location information and sold unit quantity information for the products sold by the plurality of retail sites during the interval of time measured by the consumer price index.

29. A system as defined in claim 25 wherein the consumer price index processor is further configured to determine the consumer price index for a specific panelist demographic based on panelist demographic information included in the panelist market research data.