LONDON — dunnhumby, a leading customer science company, has announced the relaunch of its KSS Retail business unit under the new dunnhumby Price and Promotion brand, reflecting the integration of its software and tools with its consulting and research practice.

dunnhumby acquired KSS Retail in 2010 based on the strength of its PriceStrat software solution, which pioneered the market for price and promotions optimization. Since then, some of the largest retailers in the world, including 7-Eleven, Tesco, AutoZone and Southeastern Grocers, have implemented PriceStrat.

With the restructuring of dunnhumby’s joint-venture agreements in major markets this year, particularly in the United States, retailers can now, for the first time, turn to a single source for strategy, research and planning and other distinctive price and promotion services, in addition to enterprise-class optimization and analytics tools. The combined team’s mission is to empower merchandising and category management teams to better understand their customers and make informed decisions that drive long-term loyalty and profitability.

“At the very core of a successful price and promotion strategy is knowledge of one’s customers, and dunnhumby has proven time and again that we understand shoppers and their behavior better than anyone else,” said Howard Langer, dunnhumby managing director for Price and Promotion. “The unique combination of our strategic processes, proprietary insights and cutting-edge software suite enables dunnhumby Price and Promotion to help retailers truly take the right steps that result in sustained pricing power.”

dunnhumby Price and Promotion works with retail chains to:

• Evaluate and model customer price perception, providing insight into what steps influence sustained shopper loyalty and competitive advantage.
• Develop more relevant, personalized promotional plans that attract their most valuable customers and grow category performance with minimal cannibalization.
• Forecast the impact of pricing, promotional and assortment changes on customer demand and key financial metrics, such as revenue and gross margin.

“Retailers are operating in an incredibly complex, fast-moving omnichannel world, and regardless of their current level of maturity, or their current challenges, we are confident we can help pricing teams solve their pricing problems and compete in smart ways to achieve significant performance improvements,” he added.

“We’ve built our entire business around customer loyalty, and price plays a leading role in what customers think about a brand,” said Simon Hay, dunnhumby CEO. “We’re passionate about helping clients get to know their customers so well that they can predict–and meet–their desires, including their need for the right prices, promotions and products on the shelf. We’re excited to be able to bring many of these strategic dunnhumby Price and Promotion capabilities to the market for the first time through a truly comprehensive offering.”

London-based dunnhumby analyzes data and applies insights from nearly one billion shoppers across the globe to create personalized customer experiences in digital, mobile and retail environments. Its strategic process, proprietary insights and multichannel media capabilities help build loyalty with customers to drive competitive advantage and sustained growth for clients.