Attachment 1 - PWS.pdf

AGGREGATED RETAIL POINT-OF-SALE/SCANNER TRANSACTION

DATA

C.1 BACKGROUND

The United States Census Bureau (USCB) produces several data products for the retail economy.

The Economic Census is conducted every five years and captures the most comprehensive store and product category-level information of any Census survey instruments. The Census collects data for each company at the store or location level. The results of the Economic Census are also the core of the sampling frame that many Census Economic Surveys are built upon. The Census Annual Retail Trade Survey is conducted every year and captures data at the company level and collects national sales, inventories, e-commerce, and expense data for sampled retailers. The Census Advanced Monthly Retail Trade Survey and the Census Monthly Retail Trade Survey are subsamples of the Annual Survey and produce timely retail estimates. The information collected in these surveys has a much more limited scope with focus on the national sales figure for both brick and mortar and e-commerce retailers. The new Monthly State Retail Sales (MSRS) report provides modeled estimates of state-level retail sales on a monthly basis.

The retail economy is a dynamic one that is garnering great attention as it evolves to meet consumer’s changing needs and to adapt to emerging technologies. As a result, there is an increased interest in the Census Bureau’s retail data products. At the same time, however, response rates for our surveys are declining due to respondent burden and increased protection of non-public company records. The 2022-2026 Department of Commerce Strategic Plan makes a commitment to reducing the burden of responding to surveys and leveraging non-traditional data sources.

In order to make use of third-party data that is comparable to data that would be collected via traditional data collection instruments for retail surveys and the Economic Census, the Census Bureau needs a consistent store-level and product category-level data source that covers a wide variety of retailers across geographies, size, and kind of retail business.

When using a third-party data source, privacy and confidentiality are of utmost concern, therefore the USCB requires that the third-party data source provides no information that would allow for the identification of individual purchasers or transactions.

C.2 PURPOSE

The USCB intends to award a Firm Fixed Price (FFP) type contract with Optional FFP CLINs for real-time point-of-sale store and product-level data for individual retailers to improve the quality of Census Bureau retail data products while also reducing the burden to respondents in accordance with Section C.

C.3 SCOPE/REQUIREMENTS

The objective of this procurement is to continue to produce high quality official statistics while making use of a third-party data source that is collecting data that is comparable to what retailers would be providing on Census Bureau data collection instruments.

The U.S. Census Bureau seeks to acquire aggregated commercial data sets for the retail industry that provide total brick-and-mortar and e-commerce sales by geography and by product category for curated groupings of retailers (i.e., from the dataset, the ability to tabulate total sales of Product X for grouping of store Y for in Geography Z should exist) on a weekly and/or monthly basis. These data also need to be provided by the 11th day of the month following the close of the previous month of data. These aggregations need to identify each retailer including in the grouping but should not contain any information identifying the individual retailer or individual purchaser or individual transactions. The data would be used to reduce respondent burden through alternative data sources in Census Bureau’s Monthly and Annual Retail Trade Survey as well as the Economic Census, and helps the Census Bureau meet its mandatory Principle Federal Economic Indicator Programs’ requirements.

The USCB seeks to acquire aggregated point-of-sale and/or scanner commercial data sets for the retail industry for special projects (such including MSRS). The USCB will work with the vendor on special projects that required aggregated company feeds of data at the NAICS level, and geographic detail. The USCB and the vendor understand that the data requests must meet the requirements for quality, releasability, and disclosure for both organizations.

The USCB also seeks price and quantity data to support work being done by our Re-Engineering Statistics using Economic Transactions (RESET) team developing experimental integrated retail statistics.

The Contractor shall provide the USCB an updated inventory of companies that are available for the aggregated national and state groupings for the retail indicator or the special projects as well as the non-response company selection. This inventory will ensure accurate selection of companies for each project.

In order to make use of commercial data sets, the data need to be reasonably comparable to data that would be collected via traditional data collection instruments for retail surveys and the Economic Census, by being a consistent store-level and product category-level data source that covers a wide variety of retailers across geographies, size, and kind of retail business. The Census Bureau requires the Contractor provide a test file or dataset for approval prior to the transfer of the first production file. The test file or dataset will represent the format to be expected by the Census Bureau.

Results will be used to develop methodology to supplement or improve existing surveys and create new hybrid data products that blend Census Bureau collected data and third-party data.

The Census Bureau may require data from multiple periods of time (months, quarters, years, etc.)

in order to compare estimates of change between Census Bureau products and the commercial products.

The Contractor shall provide data to support the work described below, including one or more commercial data sets as specified below. The data sets acquired under the contract shall contain sales/revenue data representative of domestic activity. Sales/revenue data are collected on various retail questionnaires such as Monthly Retail Trade Survey (MRTS). This questionnaire contains requests for various data items, but for this study, commercial data for the sales/revenue question is desirable. Delivery dates for the Contractor will be in accordance with Section F of the contract, which will provide the closest alignment available to survey closeout periods. The desired data requests are further described below.

C.3.1 PRIMARY DATA SET REQUIREMENTS

The Contractor shall provide two kinds of sales/ revenue data sets as follows:

(a) Monthly data set of aggregated national level sales, grouped by Census curated retail groups, without detailed product category names from 2024 through December 2028 for the retailers identified by the Census Bureau and agreed upon by the Contractor, it being understood and agreed that Census Bureau must choose the corresponding national-level grouping for each state-level grouping provided under the contract. A 2024 store count will be included in 2024 for state level groupings through 2025. Each subsequent year will have the next available store counts for state level groupings through 2028. A list of included retailers will be provided foreach grouping. Deliverables will be subject to Contractor’s internal releasability and other guidelines, including those designed to protect retailer confidentiality and maximize data quality, all in the Contractor’s reasonable discretion. The only exclusion would be for CLIN0001-3B. In the event the optional CLIN is activated, the weekly file would be excluded from this requirement.

(b) Monthly data set of aggregated state level sales, with store locations by state (not zip code), and a list of retailer names included for each grouping for December 2024 – December 2028 or retailers identified by the Census Bureau and agreed upon by the Contractor. A store count will be included. Deliverables will be subject to Contractor’s internal releasability and other guidelines, including to protect retailer confidentiality and maximize data quality, all in the Contractor’s reasonable discretion.

• The Contractor shall deliver the data sets in accordance with the Delivery Schedule. For account level detail from approved retailers that are also included in the MARTS sample, the USCB requires the data 10 business days from the end of the reference NRF retail month.

• The Contractor shall provide documentation on all methodology (including disclosure avoidance) for the commercial data and datasets. The USCB will be provided the methodology documentation upon award of contract. Any changes to methodology documentation must be provided to the USCB and the USCB will review documentations impact on estimates derived from the Contractors methodology changes over 30 days.

Following review, the USCB has ability to cancel the request of aggregate or company data if the Contractor’s methodology changes no longer align to Census Bureau standards for data release.

• The Contractor is required to provide metrics on the amount of data reported versus imputed in the datasets provided to the Census Bureau.

• The Contractor shall provide information as to the volume of sales of what is included in the unclassified product buckets, store location, and month.

• For monthly data, data delivered by the Retail 4-5-4 Calendar Month or by the actual calendar month are both acceptable; however, the Contractor shall provide a variable in the data set specifying which type of month is used.

• The Contractor shall provide initial follow-up to data quality issues in the form of a secure email acknowledgment within 1 business day of being informed of the issue by the Census Bureau. Every two business days after the initial follow-up, the Contractor should provide communications (phone call or email) regarding a plan for resolving the issue if needed until the issue is resolved.

• The Contractor shall provide data set technical support within 1 business day of being informed of the issue by the Census Bureau regarding file structure and delivery, file contents and completeness, and data consistency when required. The Contractor shall communicate to the Census Bureau regarding any planned material changes to the data set (for example, retailers leaving or entering the data set) at least 30 days before the next dataset delivery. The Census Bureau reserves to the right to reject any unacceptable material changes to the dataset.

• The Contractor shall provide the maximum number of aggregated groupings requested by Census in each aggregated data set for the base year (0001) and option years 1 and 2 as are available under Contractor’s internal releasability and other guidelines, including to protect retailer confidentiality and maximize data quality. Subject to the foregoing, upon not less than 30 days written notice, the Census Bureau also reserves the right to add to a grouping additional retailers that become available on the Contractor’s inventory list. The Contractor shall confirm availability of such additional retailer(s) in writing to Census. The foregoing applies to CLINs 0002A, 0002B, 0003A, and 0003B.

• Contractor inventory list shall be provided to the Census Bureau each year during the term of the contract for review of additional companies for the aggregate level components upon 30 days prior written request by Census.

• The Census Bureau shall receive the names of the retailers included in the aggregated monthly feeds and understand the components of the retailers that are included and not included as part of the data provided by the Contractor.

• Aggregated national and state-level sales data provided by the Contractor shall be grouped according to retailer lists provided by the Census Bureau, if and when available from Contractor. The Contractor shall supply the company names included in any such aggregated total sales data provided to the Census Bureau, as well as any geographic data, for survey inclusion purposes, subject to Contractor’s right to release such information and any applicable releasability rules. The Census Bureau reserves the right to shorten the length of time it receives the national-level grouping to no less than 3 months. For each state-level grouping, the Census Bureau will choose the corresponding national-level grouping. If the Census Bureau deems such a national-level grouping no longer necessary, the Contractor shall only charge for the data periods such grouping was provided. A bilateral modification to the contract may be required.

• The Contractor shall provide test files or test dataset to the Census Bureau prior to creation of production files. Contractor agrees to work with the Census Bureau to resolve any issues or answer questions with the test file or dataset sent within 48 hours.

https://nrf.com/resources/4-5-4-calendar

• The Contractor shall explore additional data sources, such as Customer Panel Data and Receipts. The Contractor will inform the Census Bureau on their findings and have separate discussions on how these the new data could be leveraged. A bi-lateral modification to the contract may be required. Reference H.3.13 New Work.

• Subject to contractual confidentiality obligations, upon request, the Contractor shall notify the Census Bureau of any changes to geographies, level of data availability, and any reporting information that result from retailer imposed restrictions.

C.3.3 INTENDED DATA USES

The Census Bureau will use the commercial data set for supplementing economic survey estimates and improving economic survey methodology. All data are protected by Title 13 and all output will meet Census Bureau Disclosure Avoidance standards. Retailer participation under the contract is also protected by Title 13 and must adhere to the data stewardship practices prescribed by Title 13. The Census Bureau will not disclose any identifiable information obtained through this contract. The Census Bureau will not use the data for marketing or compliance purposes. The Census Bureau will not resell the data.

C.3.4 DATA LICENSE AND USAGE RIGHTS

The Census Bureau will commingle the commercial data obtained through the contract with existing Census Bureau data. The Census Bureau will not segregate Contractor’s commercial data from Census Bureau or other data, so the commingled data will in effect become the property of the Census Bureau.

The Census Bureau will commingle the commercial data licensed under the contract with existing Census Bureau data. The Census Bureau will not segregate Contractor’s commercial data from Census Bureau or other data, and the Census Bureau will have a perpetual license (in the absence of a breach) to access and use the Contractor’s commercial data and datasets in the commingled data, provided that while the comingled data will in effect become the property of the Census Bureau, the Contractor’s commercial data and datasets, even as comingled will at all times, remain property of the Contractor.

Special requirements for publication or other permitted disclosure of Contractor data and datasets.

1) No publication or disclosure of any retailer identifiable data.

2) Retail data can only be published or disclosed at aggregated levels. Stores cannot be aggregated to create “new channels” inconsistent with what the industry receives.

3) No publication or disclosure of data at the brand or UPC, SKU or EAN level data.

Reporting of data must be done at the category level only.

4) In the event that the Contractor data or datasets include(s) any disaggregated data about the panelists, no personally identifiable information shall be disclosed or provided in any manner regarding any consumer panelists or that would permit re-identification of the consumer panelists.

In the release of publications, the Census Bureau will acknowledge the inclusion of its own survey collected data and that of the Contractor.

C.3.5 NON-DISCLOSURE AGREEMENTS

It is the Government’s intent to use the terms and conditions of this NDA upon award of the contract and receipt of the data sets. The Offeror shall notify the Government of any exceptions to these terms within 5 days of receipt of the Solicitation to allow terms and conditions to be agreed upon prior to execution of the agreement. The Government and Contractor shall agree upon the terms of a non-disclosure agreement prior to execution of the agreement or sharing of data/software.

C.3.6 DATA RETENTION

The Census Bureau will retain the commercial data licensed under the contract indefinitely. By delivering the commercial data set, the Contractor gives the Census Bureau the right to retain and use the licensed data set indefinitely for the purposes described above, with all financial consideration proposed as part of the provided pricing. Once data are entered into the Census Bureau administrative data system and joined to microdata from other sources, all records are covered under the protections of Title 13 data.

C.3.7 DATA LICENSING AGREEMENTS

The Census Bureau recognizes and accepts that the Offeror may wish to enter into licensing agreements with the Government to indicate the terms and conditions for use of their purchased data. However, consideration must be given to the following terms and conditions due to the nature of Federal Contracting [(if true for the data/software being provided) in addition to acknowledging that the data obtained will be commingled with Census Bureau data and will be considered Title 13 data and the property of the Government.] The Offeror/Contractor accepts these limitations as part of entering into the contract:

(a) “Automatic Renewal” – The Government will not agree with this condition – due to the Anti-Deficiency Act (31 U.S.C. §1341(a)). Service will not automatically renew after expiration of the initial term of this agreement. Renewal may only occur in accord with

(a) mutual agreement of the parties, or (b) an option renewal clause allowing the Government to unilaterally exercise one or more options to extend the term of the agreement.

(b) “Choice of Law” – The agreement between the Contractor and the Government shall be governed and construed with applicable federal law and regulations. Federal procurement law and regulations, including the Contract Disputes Act, 41 U.S.C. Section 601 et. Seq., and the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), govern the agreement between the parties. Litigation arising out of the contract may be filed only in those fora that have jurisdiction over federal procurement matters

(c) “Indemnification” of vendor by Government – The Federal Government will not be liable for any claim for indemnification; such payment may violate the Anti Deficiency Act 31 U.S.C. Section 1341 (a).

(d) Vendor’s assertion of right to control litigation in defense of claim of patent infringement

– The following language is acceptable:

“In the event of a claim or suit is brought against LICENSOR or LISENCEE [or similarly defined party designations] for any patent or copyright infringement relating to this license in which the United States is named as a party, the LICENSEE shall be represented by the U.S. Department of Justice which shall control the litigation or any settlement agreement; however, the LICENSOR shall be allowed reasonable participation in the defense or settlement of such claim or suit.”

(e) Payment terms and late fees/penalties – These terms must be in compliance with FAR 52.232-25 – Prompt Payment (OCT 2008).

(f) Requirement for Binding Arbitration of Disputes – The contract shall be construed under Federal Law and Regulation. Exclusive venue for all disputes arising out of contract, tort, common law or relating to the enforcement or interpretation of the contract shall reside in a Federal Court of competent jurisdiction or Federal Administrative Forum.

(g) Audit terms that require vendor access to Government information, documentation, or systems – This requirement must be conditioned as follows: “…to the maximum extent permissible under federal law and regulation.”

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