Understand Kantar Data: What is it and What it Can Do For You

Published on: 23rd November 2018, Updated on: 14th November 2024

Written By:

Andy started at the coal face with eight years in food retailing. Prior to joining MBM he then spent five years in the supply base in positions of category analysis, category management and account management. He works as part of the team enabling suppliers to UK supermarkets to secure more profitable wins through people development. He specialises in Category Management Training and is a qualified HBDI practitioner. Connect with Andy on LinkedIn.

Explore the World of Kantar Data

What is Kantar Data? Kantar Worldpanel is a global expert in shoppers’ behaviour. It is part of Kantar, one of the world’s largest insight, information, and consultancy networks. Kantar, itself, is the data management division of WPP.

Operating in over 60 countries, either directly or through partners such as Europanel, Kantar Worldpanel manages consumer panels that span many sectors. These include FMCG, personal care, telecoms, fashion, entertainment, and petrol. They monitor shopper and usage patterns on a continuous basis. Helping clients adapt their strategies to how consumers actually behave.

Broadly speaking, Panels deliver a complete picture of your consumer and shopper. This is in terms of who is buying, what they are buying, who is consuming, where consumption is taking place, and on what occasions.

Net Revenue Management Training Course — Click the green button to learn more

Questions Kantar Can Data Help With

Most importantly, Kantar Worldpanel delivers valuable information. This information can help to address many burning questions. For example:

How important are families for my category?
Which demographic is driving category decline?
Which brand is the most successful in attracting new buyers?
Is my brand stronger in small baskets or in the main aisle?
Which brands are attracting new buyers to the category?

MBM Is Here to Help You

MBM is able to support clients in mining the relevant data on the Kantar database. Helping them to tackle these questions and to gain as much insight as they can from their investment in Kantar data and statistics. Described, below, are 10 ways in which this can be achieved:

TAKE HOME PURCHASE PANEL

Purchase Panel – The Panel

Understand the sample of panelists. In the UK, the Kantar Data panel is a statistically representative sample of 30,000 Households stratified by age, gender, region, number of children, pet ownership, residential status, life stage, income/social class etc.

Purchase Panel – Data Collection

Understand what data is being collected. In the UK, the 30,000 Households record the details of every purchase they make, including the price paid and the specific store they purchased from.
Understand what data is NOT being collected. This process only focuses on products people take back into the home. It does not cover HORECA purchases or ‘on the go’ purchasing.

Purchase Panel – The Market Dimension

Understand what is being measured. KWP tracks EVERY purchase, from any store, brought into the home by the Panel of 30,000 Households. So, there are no Coverage gaps.

Purchase Panel – The Product Dimension

1. For Products, as with any database, it is important that the content accurately reflects the category being measured. So, a subscriber to KWP needs to be completely clear of the Category definition and what it includes/excludes.

Papers and graphs showing survey results next to a digital tablet — Mining the relevant data from Kantar’s database is key to better insight

Purchase Panel – The Fact Dimension

1. 1. KWP Facts are fundamental to a Product’s performance. The most common measures are Penetration (the number of Households buying the product, and/or Category), Repeat rate (the extent to which a Household repeat purchases the product), Frequency of Purchase (how often does the Household buy the product and/or Category), and Weight of Purchase (how much does a Household spend on the product and/or Category). Additional metrics include ‘Trips’ (the number of Baskets containing the product) and Basket Incidence (% of FMCG baskets containing that brand/category in the considered time period).

Pardon the Interruption: Checkout our Nielsen Products in the Shop

Purchase Panel – The Time Dimension

1. 1. Understand why Panel numbers are used over longer timeframes than, say, EPOS data. KWP is typically reported over a 4 weekly or monthly timeframe. This is because it is a sample and requires a greater quantity of data for robust output. 12 weeks and 52 weeks are also popular timeframes. Particularly for seasonal categories. Those where 4 weekly, and weekly, variations can deliver swings in results.

Purchase Panel – Watchouts

1. 1. In terms of ‘watchouts’, subscribers should use caution when using Panels. This method is less robust. When users wish to analyse low distributed products, such as NPD, which may be less likely to appear in a panelist’s shopping basket. Additionally, Impulse products including single cans of drinks and confectionery, which are less likely to experience consumption in the home. Because consumption occurs away from home.

OUT OF HOME PURCHASE PANEL

1. 1. In GB, Spain and Germany an Out of Home Panel is also available to Kantar Data subscribers. This helps in the tracking of products consumers buy and use away from home. In GB, 7,500 individuals record purchases of meals, snacks and hot drinks for this service.

USAGE PANEL

1. 1. The Usage Panel, of 4,000 Households, draws upon a subset of the main Purchase Panel. Those who maintain a week-long diary, 4 times of the year, containing all the details of every food and drink occasion for every member of the Household. The insights obtained from this information can help in understanding what people eat, when, where, why, and, by whom?
    Walmart tops the list of Kantar’s Top 50 Global retailers