Grocery promotions data shows which products are on deal, where, for how long, and how deeply. For CPG brands, it also reveals how rivals spend their trade budgets at the shelf. So you can respond before a competitor’s discount takes your sales.

Promotions also carry more weight than ever. In the UK, for example, just over 30% of grocery sales came from promotions in spring 2026. However, Circana warns that discounts alone are no longer enough to change shopper behaviour.

So this guide explains what grocery promotions data includes and which deals to track. It also covers the metrics, the sources, and how to set up tracking for 2027.

What Is Grocery Promotions Data?

Grocery promotions data is a structured record of every deal a retailer or app shows for a product. In addition, each row ties the offer to a store, a date, and a price. As a result, you can see exactly how a competitor promoted a product, not just that it did.

Typically, a record includes these fields:

Grocery Promotions Data vs Your Own Trade Data

Your trade promotion management (TPM) system knows what you funded, since you planned it. However, it doesn’t show what rivals ran. Nor does it confirm that retailers ran your deals as agreed.

Grocery promotions data fills both gaps, because it records what shoppers actually saw. For example, our Kroger API returns regular, sale, and loyalty prices by store. Then you can compare them with your own promo calendar.

Why CPG Brands Need Grocery Promotions Data in 2027

In fact, trade promotion is one of the highest costs in CPG. For example, PwC’s Strategy& estimated in 2017 that it consumed about 20% of gross sales. The same report also cited a Nielsen survey: 67% of trade promotions didn’t break even.

Since then, the pressure has grown:

• More sales on deal: promotions drove just over 30% of UK grocery sales in spring 2026, up from about 28%.
• Weaker lift: Circana found that early summer 2026 promotions drove smaller sales lifts than similar events a year earlier.
• Stronger store brands: According to Circana, private label reached $330 billion in US CPG sales, a 23% dollar share.
• Retailer price cuts: in May 2026, Kroger’s new CEO also outlined price cuts on thousands of products.

Price rules are changing how deals look, too:

• UK: since 6 April 2026, shops must show loyalty prices beside regular prices, with unit prices.
• EU: similarly, a price cut must be measured against the lowest price of the previous 30 days.
• US: meanwhile, San Diego requires paper alternatives to digital-only discounts. Several states have also proposed similar bills.

As a result, brands need grocery promotions data that captures every price type, not just the shelf tag.

Types of Competitor Promotions to Track

Competitor deals come in many forms. So track each type separately, because each one costs and works differently:

Watch for App and Loyalty Prices

In particular, app and loyalty prices are the easiest to miss. For instance, a Consumer Reports study found Instacart price tests in late 2025. At one Seattle Safeway, the price of Wheat Thins varied by up to 23% between shoppers, according to the study. Instacart then ended all item price tests in December 2025.

Similarly, quick commerce apps in India often sell far below the printed MRP. In 2025, a distributors’ body complained to India’s competition regulator about deep discounts. For example, it said one app sold a 1 kg, ₹710-MRP tea pack for as little as ₹461.

So track the same product on retailer sites and on apps, side by side. Our guide to Instacart pricing by ZIP code also shows how much prices vary.

Key Metrics From Grocery Promotions Data

Raw grocery promotions data is only the start. Instead, turn it into a few metrics your team can act on:

1. Deal frequency: how many weeks per quarter a competitor’s SKU is on deal.
2. Discount depth: the average discount against the regular price, such as 25% off.
3. Deal duration: how long each deal runs, from first seen to last seen.
4. Share of promoted SKUs: the percentage of a brand’s range on deal in a given week.
5. Price gap: the difference between your promo price and a rival’s, measured per unit so pack sizes compare.
6. Calendar overlap: weeks when your deals clash with competitor deals.
7. Retailer compliance: whether a retailer ran your funded deal at the agreed price and dates.

For example, a rival may run 20% off every third week at one chain. Meanwhile, it may run deeper multi-buys at another. Then, once you see that pattern, you can time your own deals around it.

What This Data Can’t Tell You Alone

Grocery promotions data shows what ran, but not how much it sold. So pair it with your shipment data, retailer point-of-sale data, or syndicated data from firms such as NielsenIQ or Circana. Then you can estimate lift and return on trade spend.

Where Grocery Promotions Data Comes From

In practice, CPG teams usually combine several sources. However, each one has its own strengths and gaps:

Overall, scraped grocery promotions data is the fastest way to see competitor discounts. It also covers the apps and online shops that weekly ads miss. Then syndicated data adds the sales side.

Build vs Buy

Some teams build scrapers in-house. However, retailer sites change often, and each one needs its own parser, proxies, and product matching. So many brands use a managed provider instead, with data delivered on a schedule.

For instance, our grocery data API covers retailers and apps by country. Start with the USA, UK, or India pages.

How to Set Up Competitor Promotion Tracking With FoodSpark

FoodSpark collects public grocery promotions data from retailer sites and delivery apps. Here’s how a typical setup works:

1. List your competitors and SKUs. Start with your top categories, as well as the rival brands that matter most.
2. Pick retailers and apps. For example, choose Walmart, Kroger, and Instacart in the US, or Tesco and Ocado in the UK.
3. Choose locations. Track by store, ZIP code, postcode, or pincode, because deals vary by area.
4. Set the refresh. Daily works for most brands, while hourly suits fast-moving apps.
5. Test a free sample. We send 100 rows in CSV or JSON, so you can check fields and coverage.
6. Connect your tools. Then get data by REST API, webhook, or files, or straight into AWS S3, BigQuery, Snowflake or Google Sheets.

We collect public data only, with no personal user data, payment information, or non-public content.

Sample Grocery Promotions Data Record

Below, for example, is an illustrative record. In practice, your fields depend on what each retailer shows.

{
  "retailer": "Example Grocer",
  "zip_code": "45202",
  "captured_at": "2026-10-28T08:00:00Z",
  "product_name": "Example Brand Greek Yogurt 32 oz",
  "regular_price": 6.49,
  "promo_price": 4.99,
  "loyalty_price": 4.49,
  "unit_price_per_oz": 0.14,
  "offer_text": "Sale $4.99, or $4.49 with card",
  "offer_end_date": "2026-11-03"
}

How Teams Use Grocery Promotions Data

Different teams use the same grocery promotions data in different ways. For example:

• Revenue growth management: set promo depth and frequency based on what rivals run, rather than guesses.
• Trade marketing: plan your promo calendar around competitor deal weeks, so deals don’t clash.
• Key account sales: check that retailers ran funded deals at the agreed price and dates.
• Category management: show retailers how your deals compare across the category.
• Pricing teams: spot private label price moves, as well as shrinking pack sizes.
• Insights teams: build promo indices by retailer or country over time.

Our FMCG food data scraping service and food brand solutions also cover these needs. In addition, our competitor price monitoring service tracks everyday prices.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Even so, good teams still make these mistakes:

• Tracking only weekly ads: you’ll miss app-only, loyalty, and store-level deals.
• Ignoring unit prices: a multi-buy can look cheap while costing more per ounce or kg.
• Using one ZIP code: deals often vary by store, so sample several areas.
• Skipping product matching: match pack sizes and variants, because otherwise comparisons break.
• Treating offers as sales: pair offer data with sales data before judging ROI.

For more on pricing data, see also our guide to monitoring competitor pricing.

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Grocery Promotions Data: FAQs

What is grocery promotions data?

It’s store-level data on the deals retailers and apps show, such as discounts, multi-buys, and loyalty prices. In addition, each record includes the product, price, offer, and date.

How can CPG brands track competitor discounts?

Most brands collect daily data from retailer sites and apps, because deals vary by store. Then they turn it into promo frequency, depth, and price gaps.

Can grocery promotions data measure trade promotion ROI?

Not on its own. It shows what ran, so you pair it with sales or syndicated data to measure lift and ROI.

Does it include loyalty and app-only prices?

Yes, when they’re shown publicly. For example, it can capture Clubcard Prices, member prices, and app deals in separate fields.

How often should I refresh grocery promotions data?

Daily refreshes of grocery promotions data suit most brands. However, quick commerce apps change faster, so hourly checks can help during key events.

Is collecting grocery promotions data legal?

FoodSpark collects public data only, with no personal user data or non-public content. Still, review each site’s terms and local laws with your legal team.

How much does grocery promotions data cost?

Overall, it depends on retailers, SKUs, locations, and refresh. So start with a free 100-row sample, and then get a custom quote.