SAN FRANCISCO — RangeMe reported it has unveiled a major breakthrough in data technology with the introduction its new Industry Insights tool.The tool will revolutionize how consumer packaged goods (CPG) data is obtained and used by product suppliers and manufacturers by providing an exclusive look at retail buying trends before they hit shelves, according to the company. It allows suppliers to better identify opportunities to position their products, both on RangeMe and off; helps them make informed, strategic business decisions around key product points like packaging size or pricing; and gives suppliers the information they need to target and refine their most promising new product ideas. This new tool is said to shining a light on previously unseen data and filling a vast gap that has plagued the CPG industry for decades: data that are incomplete at best, misleading at worst.

“The real-time view of Industry Insights gives suppliers an inside track into what buyers are showing interest in on the RangeMe platform,” said Nicky Jackson, founder and chief executive officer of RangeMe. “This is a cardinal addition to the platform, touching all areas of the consumer packaged goods industry, and will further revolutionize the way new products are sourced, ultimately improving how consumer needs are met.”

Using Industry Insights, RangeMe Premium subscribers can break down the intricacies of product performance by:

• Margins:Discover how the margin across suppliers’ product lines compare to both the category range and the buyer interest range.
• MSRPs: Compare retail prices to those of other similar products, and discover insight on how suppliers’ retail prices fares with buyers interest
• Packaging type: Find out the quantities that are most popular in a subcategory, as well as the quantities that are trending with buyers.
• Certifications: View the common certifications across a subcategory, and find out which ones are hitting the mark with buyers.
• Search terms: Uncover the terms that grab buyers’ attention and get products noticed.

In the past, making well-informed decisions required reams of data and their appropriate context—not something easily obtained by the average CPG supplier unless purchased for sometimes prohibitive sums. And while useful, that data only represented a fragment of the retailer market. What’s more, the data wasn’t in real time.

“Analyzing trends and buyer behavior has been the traditional way of tackling new product development,” Jackson said. “But with this breakthrough methodology, we’re adding another, incredibly in-depth layer to the process that can only help suppliers excel in their strategic decisions.”

By tapping into its powerful retailer relationships, RangeMe is using Industry Insights to set a new standard for data when it comes to product sourcing, and bringing the CPG industry out of the dark data and into the light.