WorldWide Retail Exchange and ACNielsen Partner to Launch Data Quality Program; Alliance Created to Bring Improved Data Quality to Manufacturers and Retailers

Business Wire, August 3, 2004

CHICAGO -- The WorldWide Retail Exchange (WWRE), the premier Internet-based business-to-business exchange for retailers and suppliers and ACNielsen, the world's leading provider of marketing information, today announced an alliance to improve data quality for manufacturers and retailers. ACNielsen will partner with the WWRE for the launch of the WWRE Data Quality Program, enabling retailers and suppliers to achieve the level of data quality necessary to realize a higher return on their investment in data synchronization.

The WWRE Data Quality Program is an enhancement to implementing WWRE's WorldWide Item Management (WIM) service, part of their WorldSYNC(TM) solution. Additional services now provided by WWRE WorldSYNC include GDS assessment and trading partner data needs assessment. These two components, delivered prior to implementation, enable customers to prepare themselves for data synch and be armed with the data requirements of their trading partners. Coupled with the WWRE's Accreditation Services, which train and educate a user on data synch, WWRE customers can now implement their GDS projects much more swiftly and effectively. Additional services of a customer "go-live" include compliance checks and extended data alignment for those data synchronization initiatives expanded to include additional product attributes. These components, along with the data quality and industry standards expertise provided by WWRE's partner, ACNielsen, make the Data Quality Program a unique offering for the Retail industry.

"Our members realize that clean and dependable data is critical to their data sync initiatives," commented Pete Plotas, director of strategic alliances at the WWRE. "Through our data quality program, and partnership with ACNielsen, the WWRE will be providing services that help our customers ensure their data and databases are aligned with global standards and will allow them to more quickly begin synchronizing item information with their trading partners."

As an Alliance Partner of the WWRE, ACNielsen will support the Data Quality Program with a range of service modules designed to improve data quality and data alignment across the entire product information management chain, from inside the manufacturer's internal systems, through the supply chain, and into the retailer's internal systems.

Through its Global Passport services, ACNielsen helps consumer product manufacturers and retailers use their product information more efficiently - across their internal organizations, and externally with their trading partners and vendors. ACNielsen cleanses these internal product data and aligns the data with industry-standard product codes to enable more efficient exchange of information between manufacturers and retailers across the supply chain. ACNielsen's Global Passport services also help these companies manage other external data and integrate it with their internal information for more effective decision-making.

SCA, a major paper products manufacturer and a charter member of the WWRE, is actively involved in the set-up and rollout of pilot programs with retailers. "SCA is extremely supportive of the WWRE Data Quality program. Based on the input of ACNielsen and WWRE, we were able to measure our data in terms of availability and consistency. ACNielsen has played an important role in increasing the understanding of standards and quality throughout our organisation," states Kathleen Van Maele, E-business Manager at SCA Hygiene Products.

"We have been working closely with thought leaders such as SCA to develop data quality and data alignment services that can support all the WWRE members," said David Timberlake, VP of ACNielsen Global Services. "Partnering with the WWRE is a natural fit for ACNielsen. We both have global reach, ensuring that manufacturers and retailers can implement global standards to speak the same industry language across both countries and regions. Our partnership will provide valuable support to those WWRE members that are seeking to accelerate their data synchronisation activities with trading partners, as well as support to all non-member suppliers who want to connect to the WWRE retailer systems through the Exchange."

About ACNielsen

ACNielsen, a VNU business, is the world's leading marketing information company. Offering services in more than 100 countries, the company provides measurement and analysis of marketplace dynamics and consumer attitudes and behavior. Clients rely on ACNielsen's market research, proprietary products, analytical tools and professional service to understand competitive performance, to uncover new opportunities and to raise the profitability of their marketing and sales campaigns. For more information, visit www.acnielsen.com.

About the WWRE(R)

The WWRE(R) is the premier Internet-based business-to-business exchange for retailers and suppliers. Designed to facilitate and simplify trading between manufacturers, retailers and suppliers, the WWRE(R) currently consists of members from Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America with combined sales of approximately U.S. $900 billion. For more information, visit the website at www.wwre.org or www.worldwideretailexchange.org.