The invention provides a user with substantial flexibility in requesting and generating analysis projects on transaction and/or consumer data that is stored in one or more databases. Exemplary embodiments of the invention provide a method for retailers and other authorized users, such as suppliers, to access and perform sophisticated, highly specialized analysis on transaction and/or consumer data, such as retail sales and consumer data, from a remote location using an internet connected computer. The transaction and/or consumer data that is accessed can be a compilation of retail transaction data (collected from EPOS systems, for example) and/or consumer data (which has been collected from frequent-shopper or loyalty cards used by consumers when they shop, for example). Projects are generated as spreadsheet based interactive reports, which are easy to manipulate for further analysis and presentations. Insights from these projects can lead to better decisions on new product launches, sampling, merchandizing, assortment, distribution, and other sales and marketing priorities. Exemplary projects may be interactive, allowing the user to manipulate and extract information which is specific to the user's particular needs.