New York – November 05, 2026 -- Datavations has launched Store Test Tracker, a tool that more than 15 manufacturers already use to detect new SKU tests in as few as 10-20 stores at Home Depot, Lowe's, Menards and other home improvement retailers.
Tracker follows limited-distribution SKUs from test to expansion or discontinuation
The tool applies Datavations' daily, store-level SKU-grain data to flag products in limited distribution. It then follows them through testing, expansion, stall or discontinuation. Suppliers can compare the sales velocity and volume of each test SKU against similar SKUs in the set. They can also measure category growth and impact across brands in test stores against the rest of the chain.
Datavations says a successful test can become a national placement within months, often reshaping a category before competing suppliers know it exists. It adds that panel and receipt-based data rarely detect such tests and can never effectively measure brand or category impact.
Early users exposed a cannibalizing competitor test and documented their own category growth
Early users spotted competitor testing in as few as 10-20 stores. One showed a merchant that a competitor test was cannibalizing the category rather than growing it. Others demonstrated category growth from their own launches.
Founder and CEO Philip Odelfelt said merchants decide on national placement based on performance in as few as a couple dozen stores. Customers can now bring "a data-backed recommendation instead of a reaction" to merchant meetings, for their own items and for competitors' items.
Rollout reaches 15-plus manufacturers in adhesives, security, paint applicators, outdoor and building products
Store Test Tracker has been available to select suppliers on a limited basis since October. Automated alerts that notify customers when a new test appears in their categories are planned for the coming months.
Kai Graham, Director of Product, said the tool is built to answer two questions: which store tests are running in the category, and what impact they are having on it.