Terms and Conditions

These Terms and Conditions govern access to this website and interactions with Local Market Index, doing business as Local Market Index. By using the site, you agree to these Terms. A paid research engagement is also governed by its separate written scope or statement of work.

“Company,” “we,” and “us” mean Local Market Index. “Client” means the person or organisation entering an Engagement Agreement with us. “Engagement Agreement” means an accepted scope, statement of work, or other signed research agreement. “Services” means the research described in that agreement. “Deliverables” means the client-specific reports, models, presentations, and recommendations expressly identified in it. “Client Data” means information supplied by or for the Client. “Methodology Materials” means our pre-existing or generally applicable instruments, methods, templates, techniques, models, know-how, and benchmark structures.

We provide market research concerning local consumer demand, customer decision behaviour, competitive positioning, and acquisition channels. We do not provide advertising, media buying, campaign management, marketing execution, legal, tax, accounting, or investment services. Recommendations identify evidence-supported options; implementation remains the Client’s responsibility unless a separate agreement expressly states otherwise.

Submitting an application is a request to be considered for an engagement. It is not an offer, does not create a contract, and imposes no obligation on either party. We may ask follow-up questions, decline any application at our discretion, or determine that a proposed market cannot support research at the requested confidence level.

Each engagement requires a separate written scope or statement of work identifying the market, research questions, collection methods, sample or confidence targets, Deliverables, schedule, fees, and material assumptions. The Engagement Agreement takes precedence over these Terms where they conflict. A proposal expires on the date stated in it and work begins only after acceptance and any required initial payment.

Fees, payment milestones, approved expenses, and invoice dates are stated in the Engagement Agreement. Unless it states otherwise, invoices are due within 15 days, are payable in United States dollars, and are exclusive of applicable taxes. The Client must raise a good-faith invoice dispute within 10 days of receipt and timely pay all undisputed amounts. We may pause fieldwork or withhold delivery for overdue amounts after written notice. Late amounts may accrue the lesser of one percent per month or the maximum lawful rate.

The Client will provide timely, accurate, and complete information; identify known constraints; make appropriate personnel available; and review approvals without unreasonable delay. The Client represents that Client Data was collected lawfully and that it has all notices, consents, permissions, and other rights required to share that data with us for the stated research purpose. The Client will not instruct us to use information unlawfully or to misrepresent the purpose of participant collection.

Upon full payment, the Client owns the final Deliverables produced specifically for its engagement. We retain all rights in Methodology Materials, instruments, techniques, processes, software, templates, general know-how, improvements, and anonymised aggregate benchmark data. To the extent Methodology Materials are embedded in a Deliverable, we grant the Client a perpetual, non-exclusive licence to use them only as part of that Deliverable for the permitted uses below. Client Data remains the Client’s property.

The Client may use and reproduce Deliverables internally and may provide relevant extracts to its directors, employees, professional advisers, lenders, investors, agencies, and franchise stakeholders who have a need to know and are bound by confidentiality. The Client may not resell, license, publish in full, train a competing product on, remove material qualifications from, or redistribute Deliverables as a stand-alone commercial product without our written consent. Public quotations must preserve context, scope, date, and stated confidence limitations.

Each party will protect the other’s non-public information using at least reasonable care, use it only for the engagement, and disclose it only to personnel and service providers who need it and are bound by confidentiality. Confidential information excludes information lawfully known without restriction, independently developed, received lawfully from another source, or made public without breach. A legally compelled recipient may disclose only what is required and, where lawful, will give prompt notice. These duties continue for five years after disclosure, and indefinitely for trade secrets and identifiable research-participant data while protected by law.

Research findings are informational and probabilistic, not a statement of certainty. They reflect the instrument, sample, assumptions, public sources, platform conditions, and other data available during the fieldwork window. Sampling error, non-response, recall limitations, market change, platform change, and incomplete third-party data may affect conclusions. We do not guarantee any business, revenue, ranking, market-share, conversion, or lead-generation outcome. The Client is responsible for evaluating context, obtaining specialist advice where appropriate, and making its own business decisions.

Services may use public records, government datasets, search and review surfaces, licensed datasets, research panels, and other third-party sources. We select sources we consider appropriate and document material limitations, but do not control their accuracy, continuity, methodology, availability, or terms. Source revisions or removals after the fieldwork window do not make an earlier Deliverable defective.

Except for express commitments in an Engagement Agreement, the site, Services, and Deliverables are provided “as is” and “as available.” To the fullest extent permitted by law, we disclaim implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, non-infringement, and any warranty arising from course of dealing or usage of trade. We do not warrant that the site will be uninterrupted or that all research uncertainty can be eliminated.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, neither party will be liable for indirect, incidental, special, exemplary, punitive, or consequential damages, or for lost profits, revenue, goodwill, opportunity, or data, arising from the site or an engagement, even if advised of the possibility. Our aggregate liability arising from an engagement will not exceed the fees actually paid to us for the engagement giving rise to the claim. These limits do not apply where liability cannot lawfully be limited or to a party’s fraud, wilful misconduct, confidentiality breach, or indemnification obligations.

The Client will defend, indemnify, and hold us harmless from third-party claims, damages, penalties, and reasonable costs arising from unlawful or unauthorised Client Data, Client instructions, the Client’s misuse or public mischaracterisation of a Deliverable, or the Client’s breach of these Terms. We will defend and indemnify the Client from a third-party claim that an original final Deliverable, used as permitted, directly infringes a United States copyright or trademark, excluding claims based on Client Data, Client changes, combinations not supplied by us, or Methodology Materials. The indemnified party must provide prompt notice, reasonable cooperation, and control of the defence, subject to approval of any settlement imposing fault or non-monetary obligations.

These Terms apply while you use the site or have an active engagement. Either party may terminate an engagement for a material breach not cured within 10 days after written notice, or immediately for unlawful conduct, insolvency, or a serious security or participant-safety risk. The Client may terminate for convenience on written notice but must pay for work performed, committed participant incentives, non-cancellable third-party costs, and work-in-progress through the termination date. We will deliver paid-for work in its then-current form where lawful and practicable. Payment, ownership, permitted-use restrictions, confidentiality, disclaimers, liability limits, indemnification, and dispute terms survive.

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State in which Local Market Index maintains its principal place of business, without regard to conflict-of-law principles.

Before filing a claim, a party must send a written notice describing the dispute and requested resolution. The parties will attempt in good faith to resolve it for 30 days. If unresolved, any claim arising from these Terms, the site, or an engagement will be resolved by confidential, binding arbitration before one arbitrator under the Commercial Arbitration Rules of the American Arbitration Association, conducted remotely or in the county of our principal place of business, except that either party may seek injunctive relief for misuse of confidential information or intellectual property and may bring an eligible claim in small-claims court.

Claims must be brought individually, not as a plaintiff or class member in a class, collective, consolidated, or representative proceeding. The arbitrator may award relief only to the individual party. A Client may opt out of arbitration and the class-action waiver by emailing support@localmarketindex.com within 30 days after first accepting these Terms, stating its legal name and clear intent to opt out. If the class waiver is found unenforceable for a particular claim, that claim will proceed in court and the remaining claims will be arbitrated.

We may update these Terms prospectively by posting a revised version and changing the effective date. Changes do not alter an accepted Engagement Agreement unless both parties agree in writing. Continued use of the site after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the revised site terms.

If a provision is unenforceable, it will be modified to the minimum extent necessary and the remainder will continue. These Terms, the Engagement Agreement, and incorporated documents are the entire agreement concerning their subject and replace prior discussions. Neither party may assign an engagement without written consent, except to a successor in a merger, reorganisation, or sale of substantially all relevant assets that assumes the obligations. Neither party is liable for delay caused by events beyond reasonable control, except payment obligations, and schedules will be adjusted reasonably. A failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver. Notices may be sent electronically to the contacts used for the engagement.

Questions about these Terms may be sent to Local Market Index at support@localmarketindex.com.