The Retail Council of Canada has launched what it describes as an essential one-stop tool for retailers to access up-to-date data for the retail industry.
The Retail Pulse Dashboard is a new interactive platform that delivers pertinent, relevant and important statistics on Canadian retail sales, retail job numbers, economic data, and consumer spending.
“The last couple of years have been a time of profound change for the retail industry and it’s more important than ever for retailers to leverage the power of data and seize opportunities to yield long-term success. Retail Council of Canada understands this better than anyone. We are therefore thrilled to introduce the Retail Pulse Dashboard, that can be found on our RCC website, which will make it easier for businesses to find key retail data points in one place,” said Diane J. Brisebois, President and CEO, Retail Council of Canada, in a news release.
“Regularly updated overview information on the retail industry is available to everyone. RCC members, however, have access to much richer data, enhanced filtering, comparisons, and customization. It’s pretty amazing.”
RCC worked with KPMG and Lighthouse to develop the platform to help retailers and their business partners access data that includes retail sales by province, data on retail’s economic impact, updates on employment in retail, mobility, consumer, and credit and debit card spending.
“Today, retailers need to make informed decisions faster than ever. So, KPMG developed a smart, new platform that collects and delivers near-real time and real-time industry intelligence, across the metrics that matter to retailers so they can make better, more informed business decisions,” said Kostya Polyakov, National Industry Leader for Consumer and Retail, KPMG in Canada, in a statement.
The Council is a not-for-profit industry-funded association that represents small, medium, and large retail businesses in every community across the country. It represents more than 45,000 storefronts in all retail formats, including department, grocery, specialty, discount, independent retailers, and online merchants.
The Council says retail is Canada’s largest private-sector employer with over two million Canadians working in the industry. The sector annually generates over $78 billion in total compensation. Core retail sales (excluding vehicles and gasoline) were over $433 billion in 2021. Council members represent more than two-thirds of core retail sales in the country.
The new dashboard is hosted on the RCC website. An introductory video can be seen here: https://youtu.be/wWu-FS_CWQQ
“It is a game changer for our industry and teams to have a singular resource that gives companies access to the most relevant retail data,” said Sarah Jordan, CEO, Mastermind Toys, a member of RCC, in a statement. “To stay competitive and growth orientated, it is critical for us to have several channels to get the insights we need so we can continuously refine and innovate our brand storytelling and customer experiences.
“Spending less time gathering rich data from different sources and allowing more time to react quickly to trends is such a welcomed advantage, especially given the pace of the retail environment.”
