Scan data is the item-by-item record of what a store actually sold, sent to the companies that make those products so the store can earn rebates. It is most common with tobacco.
Every time an item crosses the register, the point-of-sale system records it. The point-of-sale system, often shortened to POS, is the register and software that ring up sales. Scan data is that record of individual sales, gathered up and reported to a product maker, usually a tobacco company, as proof of exactly what sold and at what price.
The maker pays for that proof. In return for honest, detailed sales numbers, it sends the store rebate dollars and funds promotions. So accurate, on-time scan data is worth real money to the store.
The catch is that the data has to be clean. If items are rung up under the wrong code, or the pricebook (the store’s master list of items, costs, and prices) is out of date, the numbers sent are wrong, and the store either underclaims what it is owed or risks losing the program. Getting full value means keeping the item records tight.
In useThe store sends its tobacco scan data each week, and the clean numbers come back as a rebate check it would have missed on a sloppy pricebook.
See also Buydown, Pricebook, POS (point of sale)