• March 12, 2007

TNS, a London-based market research company, said Friday that it had acquired Retail Forward, Columbus, Ohio.

The company said Retail Forward will be a part of TNS' newly established global practice, and part of its expanded shopper research network.

Retailers are increasingly eager for competitive insights into the way shoppers think, and the 40-year-old Retail Forward is known for innovations like its ShopperScope, which tracks everything from attitudes about clothing sizes to shifts in gift-card expenditures.