PLANO, Texas — Loblaw Cos. has tapped Alliance Data Systems Corp. subsidiary Precima to help sharpen its grocery and pharmacy analytics.

Under a new long-term agreement, Precima will work with Loblaw to develop a single-access retail analytics portal to provide customer, marketing and merchandising insights for grocery and pharmacy retail, Alliance Data said Tuesday.

The portal is slated to launch in 2018 and will expand on Precima’s relationship with Loblaw, which began in June 2014.

“Loblaw is committed to leveraging best-in-class analytic tools to drive our business forward,” Jim Noteboom, senior vice president of loyalty and consumer insights at Loblaw Cos., said in a statement. “This new portal will provide greater access to data, enabling us to offer the product assortment and services our customers are looking for, ensuring a better shopping experience.”

Via the new portal, Precima will furnish Loblaw with data to support merchandising and marketing strategy development, promotional effectiveness, assortment decisions, supplier collaboration and consulting across its retail network.

The Loblaw Cos. network encompasses about 2,500 corporate, franchised and associate-owned stores, including more than 1,050 grocery stores — with 500-plus in-store pharmacies — and over 1,300 Shoppers Drug Mart/Pharmaprix drug stores.

“Precima has a unique ability to translate customer insights into truly differentiated and compelling marketing, trading and supplier solutions that drive noteworthy results,” stated Bryan Pearson, president and chief executive officer of Alliance Data’s LoyaltyOne business, which includes shopper insights and retail analytics specialist Precima. “We are eager to build on the successful foundation of this relationship with Loblaw, using our combination of loyalty, analytics and retail industry expertise to drive sales, boost profitability and build customer loyalty.”