The data collected are mainly the location of stores organized in a brand network and the form of organization that links the establishment to the head of the network: subsidiary or branch if the store is not financially independent, franchise, cooperative group, commission-affiliation, concession, brand license, rental-management or other form of contract.

The sectors surveyed are, in the NAF rev. 2, divisions 10, 45 and 47 for retail networks and sectors I to S (except sectors K, O) for services networks.

A brand network is a set of points of sale that have common characteristics (sale of the same products, offer of the same services) by affixing the brand's logo on their window and which are coordinated by the same company, the "network head".
The main information collected about the members of the network are : brand name, link, a fourteen-figure identification number and mailing address.

This survey is carried out among network heads (legal units) on all of their outlets.