Nowcast is a Japanese alternative-data company that analyzes sources such as point-of-sale and credit-card purchase data for investment and macroeconomic research. Its Investment Research service studies Japanese equities, while Economic Research uses large-scale POS and card data to track economic conditions. The site says these analyses support institutional investors, public agencies, securities firms, and think tanks. POS datasets can be examined by day, store, and product code; data owners can also receive help with data preparation, analysis, product development, and operations.