The NPD Group, Inc. has made an investment in Segmenta, a market research firm that tracks the prestige beauty industry in Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Peru, Venezuela, and Uruguay.  As part of the agreement, Mark Turim, president and general manager for NPD in Latin America, has joined Segmenta’s board of directors. Segmenta currently provides retail tracking, including data from over 900 stores, across eight countries. NPD’s backing will support development of additional services. Segmenta now has over 90 clients in the region. NPD offers the only retail-point-of-sale tracking service for the beauty industry in the U.S., along with comparable services in France, the UK, Italy, and Spain.