Two reports disagree. The useful response is to find out whether they measure the same thing, whether both are complete, and whether either contains an error.
Choosing a preferred table does not make it correct. Nor does a small difference automatically make it harmless. A modest variance can change the answer when the decision is close to a threshold; a larger difference may be fully explained by different scope.
My recommendation is a compact definition and reconciliation record for the measures that support the account review.
If the immediate problem is two Scintilla sales reports that do not match, start with Retail Reason's Scintilla report-mismatch guide. Use the reconciliation record below to preserve what you checked, explain the difference, and keep the next account review consistent.
Define each measure before comparing it
A platform name is not a complete source citation. Record the report or dataset, metric definition, filters, level of detail, and data-as-of time.
| Field | What the record should explain |
|---|---|
| Business meaning | What the metric answers, such as retail sell-through or supplier shipments |
| Calculation | Numerator, denominator, units, and treatment of missing values |
| Source | Report or dataset, export/run date, and owner |
| Product scope | Items, identifiers, mappings, and applicable product versions |
| Location and channel | Store/club population, channels, and inclusion rules |
| Time | Exact dates, retail-week mapping, and comparison period |
| Adjustments | Returns, exclusions, restatements, or reconciled corrections |
| Limitations | Coverage, sampling, permissions, and unresolved issues |
Use the source appropriate to the question. Shipments can explain supply into the account; they are not the same as customer sell-through. Available on-hand inventory is not automatically a measurement of physical shelf availability.
Scope Scintilla to the account and the dataset
For Walmart, start by identifying whether the supplier has Basic or Charter and verifying the requested reports and fields. Basic work centers on own-item operational reporting. Broader shopper analysis and additional capabilities require the relevant access; a Charter subscription should not be assumed to grant every category-advisor view or unrestricted competitor detail.
Within Scintilla, Channel Performance and Shopper Behavior serve different analytical purposes. Operational reporting and shopper/basket analysis are not interchangeable sources merely because both contain a sales measure. Walmart’s public product descriptions distinguish those jobs. Walmart Data Ventures product overview.
Check the current data dictionary and report documentation for grain, coverage, returns treatment, refresh, and sampling where applicable. Do not force unlike populations to reconcile or blend their denominators into a new metric.
Keep Sam’s Club reporting separate. MADRID is Sam’s reporting/insights platform; it is not an item-data system or a Scintilla module. Confirm the available Sam’s reports and definitions through the account’s current tools and Supplier Academy guidance.
Investigate disagreement in a repeatable order
- Compare definitions. Are both numbers retail sales, or is one shipments, orders, or another measure? Do returns and adjustments receive the same treatment?
- Compare scope. Are the items, identifiers, channels, and locations equivalent? Check transitions, bundles, duplicate mappings, and exclusions.
- Compare time and completeness. Align exact dates and report refresh times. Check whether the feed or export is complete for the period.
- Compare calculations. Verify units, joins, duplicate rows, aggregations, and denominator logic. Recalculate totals from the relevant components.
- Check source updates. Look for corrections, restatements, documented methodology changes, or known issues. Confirm with the source owner when needed.
When the time comparison uses Walmart week labels, Retail Reason's Walmart week guide and week converter help map those labels to dates. Record the exact dates in the reconciliation so a shared week number does not hide a different comparison period.
Do not average ratios by default. For a total margin rate, for example, use total applicable margin dollars divided by the corresponding sales dollars when that matches the agreed definition; the unweighted average of item margin percentages usually answers a different question.
Record the explanation, not a generic excuse
A useful reconciliation note names the difference, its cause, the corrected or appropriate view, and the affected decision.
If the cause is still unknown, say so. Label the finding provisional, assign the investigation, and avoid making an irreversible recommendation that depends on an unresolved number. It may still be possible to make other decisions whose evidence is sound.
Do not write “timing and scope” unless you have established that explanation. Do not dismiss a difference as within an arbitrary one- or two-percent tolerance. A tolerance should follow the use case and risk, not the desire to keep a meeting moving.
Keep diagnosis separate from causal impact
Breaking a sales change into price, volume, mix, or distribution contributions can help explain the arithmetic. It does not necessarily establish what caused demand to change.
Label descriptive findings, hypotheses, and causal estimates separately. A causal estimate needs a defensible comparison and assumptions; an attractive trend line is not enough. If the evidence cannot answer the question, recommend the next study or investigation rather than inventing certainty.
Maintain the record after the meeting
Keep the source files and approved definitions with the review. If a number is corrected later, update the analysis and tell the people whose decisions it affects. Consistency means using a clear method and documenting justified changes, not preserving an error.
For maintained context on reporting entitlement, read Retail Reason’s Scintilla Basic and Charter guide. If an advisory firm is assembling the review, its agency access guide addresses a separate question: how client access is granted. Check each guide’s date and the current account before relying on it.
Connect this record to your decision plan and review structure. Explore Retail Reason Intelligence for operating guidance.
For help turning Scintilla Charter evidence into a business decision, work directly with Matt to choose the relevant reports, reconcile their scope, and investigate the findings across the tools available to your team.