Tracking Healthy Food Sales

Nationwide, public health practitioners are working with small food retailers to improve access to healthy foods.

It’s important to evaluate whether these small food retailer programs are working effectively and leading to more healthy food purchases. One way to measure success is by tracking sales data. Small stores can track sales data in several ways.

Through a review of healthy food retailer program reports and interviews
 with program staff and experts in the field, ChangeLab Solutions has assembled a list of viable sales data tracking methods. We have assessed each method using 4 criteria – accuracy, cost, burden on program staff, and burden on store staff – to show each method’s strengths and weaknesses. This easy-to-use resource can help healthy retail advocates and retailers pick the best sales tracking methods for their program.