PLANCHE 01 — POSITIONING · REF: VS-001
Head-to-head · AisleIntel vs the legacy stack

How AisleIntel compares to
legacy grocery intelligence.

Opinionated, operator-written, weekly cadence, $49/mo or $29 founding — not a six-figure committee report. IGD, Kantar, Edge by Ascential, and Coresight each have a place. This page tells you honestly when that place is not ours.

$49/mo vs $15–30K/year Named analyst, not committee Days to publish, not months Europe-first, operator POV No annual contract
Founding — $29/mo → 14-day trial — $49/mo → See the table ↓
PLANCHE 02 — COMPARISON MATRIX · REF: VS-002

All figures are editorial estimates sourced from published pricing pages, public procurement records, and industry conversations. Legacy vendor costs vary by tier, contract term, and geography — treat ranges as directional.

AisleIntel IGD Kantar Retail Edge by Ascential Coresight Research
Pricing $49/mo ($588/yr) Founding: $29/mo locked for life £15,000–30,000/yr Annual contract, sales process required $20,000+/yr Annual contract, tiered access levels $15,000–25,000/yr Bundle pricing, annual commitment $10,000–40,000/yr Annual subscription, report licensing add-on
Cadence Weekly Daily Beyond Facing memo + monthly deep dives Quarterly / annualAnnual reports, periodic research notes QuarterlyPanel releases, insight reports Monthly / ad hocRetailer profiles updated periodically Weekly / ad hocFree headlines; paid deep content quarterly
Depth per report 3,000–6,000 words Primary sources, 40–60 citations, named analyst conclusion VariableData-dense, structured; strong on UK category data Data-ledPanel methodology, limited narrative Database-styleRetailer profiles, market data; thin on narrative VariableRetail tech focus; some long-form reports
Point of view Opinionated Accountable analyst conclusion — not consensus Neutral / data-led Neutral / panel-sourced Neutral / database-style MixedRetail tech takes; grocery coverage more neutral
Author Named operator Single analyst, accountable byline CommitteeNo named analyst on most outputs Committee Committee Analyst teamSome named analysts on specific verticals
Format Blueprint / data-dense narrative Structured memos, score tables, comparable across issues PDF / portalStructured reports, portal access PDF / dashboardData tables, shopper slides Database portalRetailer profile cards, market data PDF reportsRetail tech trend reports, sponsored content mix
Coverage European grocery focus UK, DE, FR, ES, NL, IT — global secondary UK-primary, Europe secondary Global (panel-dependent by market) Global (broad, thinner on European depth) Global — US-primaryEuropean coverage lighter
Community access Yes — private member community No No No No
Time-to-insight on breaking news 1–5 days EuroShop, quarterly results, M&A — covered within the week Months / quarters Months / quarters Weeks to months Days (headlines)But paid depth lags significantly
Sample access Free, no sales call→ Sample issues Sales call required Sales call required Sales call required Free newsletter + paywalled reports
Contract length Monthly — cancel anytime Annual contract Annual contract Annual contract Annual subscription

Pricing ranges sourced from public procurement filings, vendor websites, and industry discussions as of May 2026. Figures are directional — actual contracts vary. AisleIntel pricing is exact.

PLANCHE 03 — HONEST SELECTOR · REF: VS-003

When to use each. Honestly.

Use AisleIntel when…
You need a take, not a dataset
You're a strategy director, category manager, or supplier commercial lead who needs to know what Schwarz Group's sovereign AI push means for supplier negotiations this quarter — not a market sizing slide in 6 months. You want the operator's read, not the committee consensus.
Use IGD when…
You need deep UK category data
Your annual planning cycle requires structured historical UK market data going back 10+ years, and your procurement process requires a recognised trade body vendor with established supplier relationships. Budget is not the primary constraint.
Use Kantar Retail when…
You need shopper panel data
Your team runs consumer tracking studies and needs panel-sourced basket share data across multiple markets. The question is "what are shoppers doing?" not "what should we do about it?" Kantar's panel infrastructure has no equivalent here.
Use Edge by Ascential when…
You need a global retailer database
Your team needs structured profiles on 500+ retailers across 50+ markets for due diligence or investor research. If the deliverable is a market sizing slide for the board rather than an action recommendation, Edge's data breadth has its place.
Use Coresight when…
You need US retail tech coverage
Your remit is North American retail technology — store tech, ecommerce, retail media — and you need broad trend coverage with a US-market lens. Coresight's retail tech tracking is more developed than its European grocery depth.
PLANCHE 04 — WHERE WE WIN · REF: VS-004

Three cases where the legacy stack won't save you.

Use Case A — Strategy Director
Strategy director needs a take on Schwarz Group's sovereign AI push before next quarter's board review
Schwarz Group announced a €1B AI investment in January 2026. By the time a legacy vendor publishes a structured report on what this means for European supplier negotiations, the board meeting has passed, the question has been answered by whoever had the fastest read, and you've cited a press release.

AisleIntel published the Schwarz sovereign AI analysis within 5 days — operator-level interpretation of what the infrastructure bet means for Lidl/Kaufland supplier dynamics, private label expansion, and the data leverage shift in EU 5 negotiations. That's the piece a strategy director can actually walk into a meeting with.
→ Why AisleIntel: named analyst POV, days not months, European grocery as primary beat
Use Case B — Supplier Commercial Lead
Supplier preparing a buyer meeting needs the latest Tesco private label margin data — in 48 hours
A major UK FMCG supplier has a Tesco buyer meeting on Thursday. They need current Tesco private label penetration data, the recent Finest tier repricing context, and the Booker wholesale dynamic that changes how Tesco thinks about supplier margin conversations.

The AisleIntel Tesco deep dive covers all three in 4,200 words — with cited filings, store observation data from multiple format visits, and a clear conclusion on how Tesco's private label posture affects supplier negotiation leverage in 2026. No sales call. Readable tonight. Actionable Thursday morning.
→ Why AisleIntel: no contract required, immediate access, store-walk fieldwork included
Use Case C — Investor / M&A Analyst
Investor evaluating a European grocery rollup needs deep operator perspective — in 24 hours, not 6 weeks
A PE firm is 48 hours into diligence on a European grocery acquisition and needs an operator-level read on the target's competitive position in its core market. IGD's report for that geography costs £20K and takes 6 weeks. Edge by Ascential's profile is a database card. Coresight has nothing meaningful on continental European grocery.

AisleIntel's library covers 28 deep dives on European operators — each with strategic posture, margin dynamics, private label trajectory, tech bets, and expansion signals. An investor who joined this morning can read the REWE Group, Edeka, and Carrefour analyses by lunch and have a working view of the competitive set by EOD.
→ Why AisleIntel: immediate access, full operator library, operator perspective not sell-side
PLANCHE 05 — SAMPLE ARTIFACTS · REF: VS-005

Read before you decide. No form required.

Every claim about depth, speed, and format is backed by published work. Three Beyond Facing issues, one deep dive teaser, and the Tech Stack Index — all public.

Beyond Facing #7
Tesco's UK Turnaround: The Numbers Behind the Comeback
Published in 24h of results — Clubcard data, Booker contribution, ESL rollout
Read free →
Beyond Facing #2
Walmart: $275B in Grocery and Nobody Takes It Seriously
The global grocery player European strategists systematically undermodel
Read free →
Beyond Facing #3
Alibaba's Hema: The Format Nobody in Europe Wants to Admit Works
Format innovation read with direct implications for European dark store debate
Read free →
Deep Dive #28
REWE Group & Penny: €100.4B FY2025
4,200 words · Penny hard-discounter paradox · Lekkerland 4-tech bet · margin dynamics
Read preview →
Lead Magnet
European Grocery Tech Stack Index 2026
8-category grid · 3-retailer matrix preview · ESL, loyalty, ecomm, AI
Get free →
Sample Week
Full Beyond Facing Sample Week — 7 Issues
Amazon Fresh, Hema, Woolworths, M&S, Spinneys, Tesco, Walmart — all public
Browse all →
PLANCHE 06 — FOUNDING MEMBERS · REF: VS-006

Coming soon — founding member seats.

We don't fake quotes. Five founding seats are open at $29/month for life. The people who take them will be the first testimonials on this page — real names, real companies, real use cases.

○ Seat 1
Strategy Director Open — $29/mo
○ Seat 2
Category Manager Open — $29/mo
○ Seat 3
Supplier Commercial Lead Open — $29/mo
○ Seat 4
Investment Analyst Open — $29/mo
○ Seat 5
Market Entry Lead Open — $29/mo

Founding seats lock in $29/mo for life. Price returns to $49 after seat 5. See the founding offer →

PLANCHE 07 — GET STARTED · REF: VS-007

Start tonight. No sales call.
No annual contract.

5 founding seats at $29/mo for life. After seat 5, price returns to $49/month. No discount codes, no countdown timers — just the seat count. Read 28 deep dives on Lidl, REWE, Tesco, Mercadona, and 24 more by tomorrow morning.

Founding — $29/mo → Start at $49/mo →

Secure checkout via Stripe · 14-day money-back guarantee · Cancel anytime · EUR pricing at €49/mo via /pilot

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