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Blog » Glossary » Market Share

Market Share

July 1, 2012 By Robin Simon 4 Comments

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Key measure of performance vs. the competition.  How much  category or segment sales are captured.  Calculated as (Brand Sales / Category Sales).  Can also have different things in the numerator (flavors, sizes, health breaks, etc.) or the denominator (segment, etc.).

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Filed Under: Glossary, Know Your Measures: Sales

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Comments

  1. Ray says

    May 23, 2025 at 11:59 pm

    Would be nice to expand on this topic since it’s such a highly used KPI.

    Reply
    • Robin Simon says

      June 1, 2025 at 8:12 pm

      This is a Glossary entry, I could possible expand it into a full post. Do you have any specific questions/topics you’d like to see addressed with that?

      Reply
  2. Nancy A says

    September 24, 2025 at 8:33 am

    Hi Robin! I’m of the ‘old school’ where shares do not utilize a % sign.
    Market Share is 24.7 not 24.7%. The same could be said for Category Share.

    Technically I guess it’s the same thing. When I first started in Category Management, I was taught there was a reason we didn’t use the %. But I cannot remember that reason.

    What are your thoughts on using a % sign? Are there any reasons you can think of as to why we shouldn’t use the % sign?

    I’ve had debates with others on this, and “that’s how I was taught” doesn’t quite cut it.
    Thanks for any insight you may have!

    Reply
    • Robin Simon says

      September 24, 2025 at 9:47 pm

      I have seen market and category share expressed both ways – with and without a % sign. And I’m very old school! 😉 My preference is to use the % sign but…then the change does not have a % sign and is described as “point change” or “pt chg” in a report. Here’s an example: share is 24.7% and it is up +1.6 pts vs. year ago. The share is not up 1.6% of the 4.7%, it’s 1.6 points. My guess is the reason you didn’t use the % was because it was a little more complicated to then calculate that point change. I totally agree “that’s how I was taught” is not a compelling reason. Hope this helps.

      Reply

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About CPG Data Tip Sheet

We (Sally Martin and Robin Simon) first met in business school and bonded over our interest in geeky marketing stuff. Eventually we both started independent consulting practices. Now we’ve reunited to share with you some of what we’ve learned in our decades of experience working with syndicated CPG data.

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Categories

  • Glossary (79)
  • How To Answer Business Questions (42)
  • How To Communicate Insights (17)
  • How To Get Started with Nielsen/IRI (22)
  • How To Understand Your Database (12)
  • Know Your Measures: Distribution (24)
  • Know Your Measures: Pricing and Promotion (45)
  • Know Your Measures: Sales (21)
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Search CPG Data Tip Sheet

Tags

ACV analysis examples analytic skills attributes average items base base weighted weeks career development category management channels characteristics coronavirus coverage factor covid-19 Database distribution due-to Excel tips Facts incremental markets Measures merchandising new items panel data periods pricing pricing strategy products promoted price quantify opportunity retailer direct data retailer markets shopper data store data Syndicated TDP the basics trade promotion trading areas velocity visualization visualizations volume bridge volume decomposition

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