Generation Research

What Generation Research does

Generation Research AB is a privately held Swedish market intelligence firm founded circa 1984 and headquartered in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden. The company specializes in surveying, analyzing, and documenting the global duty-free and travel retail market, and claims to operate the world's largest data bank in this niche, built over more than 40 years through a collaborative network of suppliers, retailers, and industry experts.

The firm offers three core products: the Perfumes & Cosmetic Sales Panel, a subscription-based analysis of the travel retail Beauty market covering sub-categories and brands across countries and sales channels, supported by a supplier panel that covers over 90% of the P&C market and supplemented with retailer data and desk research; the Cross-Category Industry Overview, a recurring intelligence package bundling quarterly market updates, sentiment-survey-based forecasts, and an annual deep-dive including country, airport, and retailer market share estimations; and Ad-hoc Research & Reports, a professional-services offering for tailored client projects. The firm describes its analytical foundation as combining four decades of accumulated industry data with the latest data science techniques.

Generation Research monetizes through enterprise subscription contracts and project-based research engagements, distributing directly to global suppliers and retailers in the duty-free and travel retail channel via a direct enterprise sales motion. The company employs 11-50 people, serves a global client base, and operates as an independently owned Swedish Aktiebolag with no disclosed parent company, institutional investors, or M&A activity. Pricing is not publicly disclosed and is handled via direct email outreach to [email protected].

Name

Generation Research

Legal name

Generation Research AB

Website

https://generation.se

Company type

Private

Founded year

1984

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Generation Research AB is a Swedish market intelligence firm, founded in 1984 and headquartered in Örnsköldsvik, that sells subscription and bespoke research on the global duty-free and travel retail sector to suppliers and retailers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Travel Retail Market Research

NAICS

Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (54191)

akta.pro primary industry

Industry & Sector Research (Syndicated/Custom) (BPAHALAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Market Research & Consumer Insights (BPAHALAA), Syndicated Market Research (Panels, Omnibus, Tracker Studies) (MPAAALAB), Survey, Panel & Fieldwork Services (BPAHALAJ)

Keywords

• Travel retail market research
• Duty-free industry data
• Perfumes cosmetics sales tracking
• Travel retail intelligence
• Market share analysis

Headquarters

HQ city

Örnsköldsvik

HQ country

Sweden

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Perfumes & Cosmetic Sales Panel: Comprehensive analysis of travel retail Beauty market including sub-categories and brands, with results broken down by country and sales channel. Data sourced from a panel of P&C suppliers covering over 90% of the market, complemented with retailer data and desk research.
2. Cross-Category Industry Overview: Complete compilation of industry knowledge including quarterly market updates, frequently updated forecasts based on market sentiment surveys, and annual deep-dive including estimations of country, airport and retailer market shares.
3. Ad-hoc Research & Reports: Tailored reports created based on the extensive database of industry performance for specific client projects.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Generation Research is a market intelligence firm specializing in the global duty-free and travel retail industry. The company sells subscription-based data panels, cross-category industry overviews, and tailored ad-hoc research built on over 40 years of accumulated industry statistics collected from a network of suppliers, retailers, and industry experts.

Product overview

Generation Research offers a suite of three interconnected data intelligence products designed for the duty free and travel retail market. The core offering consists of the Perfumes & Cosmetic Sales Panel for Beauty market analysis, the Cross-Category Industry Overview providing comprehensive industry-wide insights with quarterly updates and annual deep-dives, and Ad-hoc Research & Reports offering customized analytical support. These products are built on over 40 years of accumulated industry data and leverage a collaborative approach combining supplier, retailer, and industry expert intelligence to deliver comprehensive market insights.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Perfumes & Cosmetic Sales Panel A subscription data panel providing comprehensive analysis of the travel retail Beauty market, including sub-categories and brands, with results broken down by country and sales channel. Data is sourced from a panel of P&C suppliers covering over 90% of the market, complemented with retailer data and desk research to validate and estimate the entire market. Intended for duty-free and travel retail suppliers and retailers.
• Cross-Category Industry Overview A subscription overview that compiles the company's entire knowledge-base into a complete view of duty-free and travel retail industry performance by region, channel and category. Includes quarterly market updates, frequently updated forecasts based on market sentiment surveys, and an annual deep-dive including estimations of country, airport and retailer market shares.
• Ad-hoc Research & Reports A professional services engagement in which Generation Research experts create tailored reports based on the company's extensive database of duty-free and travel retail industry performance, supporting specific client projects on request.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 90% market coverage for P&C category through supplier panel data

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• NielsenIQ: Global leader in retail measurement and consumer intelligence. Overlaps with Generation Research in providing market-share and sales tracking data to CPG suppliers, but serves a much broader set of channels and categories than travel retail.
• Mintel: Global market research firm publishing consumer and product intelligence across beauty, travel, and retail. Comparable in serving CPG suppliers with category and consumer insights, though not specialized in duty-free/travel retail channel data.
• Statista: Large-scale data and statistics platform aggregating market, consumer, and industry data. Comparable as a data intelligence provider to enterprise clients, but operates as a horizontal aggregator rather than a specialist panel-based research firm in travel retail.
• Euromonitor International: Global market research firm covering travel retail among many other industries. Comparable in syndicated market research and consumer insights, but operates at much broader scale across all consumer categories rather than specializing in duty-free and travel retail.
• Kantar: Major market research and insights company serving global CPG and retail clients with panel, brand, and shopper data. Comparable to Generation Research in methodology and customer types (CPG suppliers), but with significantly broader geographic and category coverage.

Direct peers

• m1nd-set: Specialist shopper research and behavioral insights firm dedicated exclusively to the duty-free and travel retail industry. Direct competitor to Generation Research's P&C panel and industry overview offerings, serving the same supplier and retailer customer base with panel-based market intelligence.
• The Moodie Davitt Report: Leading B2B intelligence and news provider for the travel retail and duty-free sector. Closely comparable to Generation Research in serving the same supplier/retailer audience, though it leans more toward news, events, and editorial rather than statistical panel data.
• DFNI (Duty Free News International): Long-standing trade publication and intelligence platform covering duty-free and travel retail. Directly comparable in target audience and niche focus, providing market news, data, and analysis to suppliers and retailers in the same channel.
• TRBusiness: Travel retail business news, data, and conference organizer covering duty-free operators, suppliers, and airports. Overlaps with Generation Research's customer base and industry intelligence focus, though weighted more toward journalism and events than statistical panels.

Emerging players

• Air4casts: Provider of air passenger forecasts and airport traffic analytics used by travel retail stakeholders. Comparable as a data-driven intelligence provider serving the same end market, but focused on traffic/passenger demand forecasting rather than point-of-sale and category-level retail data.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/generationresearch

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Generation Research