In supermarkets, brands are constantly looking for tools and methods to optimize their performance and market positioning.
Among these tools, retailer panels stand out as key instruments for manufacturers and brands keen to decipher the sales and distribution dynamics of their products.
What is a distributor panel?
A retailer panel is a marketing research tool that systematically and continuously collects data from a representative group of outlets. This data is then analyzed and fed back to manufacturers and brands in the retail sector.
This information provides valuable insight into sales, inventories, prices and other aspects of product distribution in supermarket networks. The main objective is to understand the performance of products sold in supermarkets, monitor market and sales trends, and measure the effectiveness of marketing and sales strategies.
The different types of panel
Depending on product type, market segment or geographic area, distributor panels vary. Here are 7 types commonly used in the industry:
Panel of food retailers: Focused on sales and consumption trends in supermarkets, hypermarkets and other food outlets.
Non-food retailer panel: Focused on non-food products, such as consumer electronics, household appliances, clothing, etc.
Panel of specialized distributors: targets specific market segments such as pharmacies, DIY stores, garden centers, bookstores, etc.
Online retailer panel: Focuses on sales made through e-commerce platforms, enabling us to analyze the performance of products sold online.
International Distributor Panel: Combines data from several countries to provide a global perspective on product performance.
Panel of regional distributors: Provides detailed information on sales and distribution in specific regions, enabling more detailed analysis on a local or regional scale.
Panel of distributors by channel: Distinguished by distribution channel (supermarket distribution, specialized distribution, direct sales, etc.), this type of panel helps to understand the dynamics specific to each channel.
Panelists
These panels are often managed by companies specializing in market research. In the retail sector, the main ones are :
NielsenIQ: One of the world's leading data analytics and performance measurement companies, offering insights into consumer and retail product performance.
IRI (Information Resources, Inc.): Specializing in market data, analysis and predictive solutions for the consumer goods, healthcare and retail sectors.
Kantar: Provides a full range of market research services, including retailer panels, and offers in-depth insights into consumer behavior.
GfK (Growth from Knowledge): A market research company offering detailed analyses of buying behavior and consumer trends in various sectors.
Dunnhumby: Specializing in customer data analysis for the retail sector, Dunnhumby uses retailer panels to help brands understand buying habits and optimize their marketing strategies.
Nielsen Brandbank: Focused on digital and e-commerce, Nielsen Brandbank offers solutions for optimizing the online presence of products, based on accurate data from retailer panels.
Distributor panels vs. consumer panels
Distributor panels and consumer panels serve complementary purposes in marketing research. While retailer panels provide a macroscopic view of product performance and distribution, consumer panels offer a microscopic understanding of consumer behavior and attitudes.
Together, they enable FMCG brands to make strategic decisions.
Differences between consumer and distributor panels
Criteria
Distributor panels
Consumer panels
Objective and Focus
Analyze in-store product performance, market share and sales trends.
Understand consumer buying behavior, preferences and attitudes.
Clear view of sales trends and product performance in the distribution channel.
Deep insights into consumer behavior and preferences.
Limitations
Fewer details on consumer motivations.
May not be representative enough to capture the entire market.
What indicators are available on distributor panels?
Retailer panels offer a wide range of indicators to help understand in-store product performance and key consumer trends:
Market share: Percentage of sales of a product or brand in relation to total sales in the category.
Volume sales: Quantity of products sold over a given period, often expressed in units or physical volume.
Value sales: Total value of sales of a product or brand over a given period.
Digital distribution: Percentage of outlets stocking a specific product compared with the total number of outlets in the panel.
Weighted distribution: Percentage of total sales coming from outlets that stock the product, taking into account the size or importance of the outlets.
Average price: Average selling price of a product over a given period.
Price index: Comparison of the average price of a product or brand with a benchmark or category average.
Penetration rate: Percentage of households or consumers who bought the product or brand at least once during the period observed.
Purchase frequency: Average number of times a product or brand is purchased by consumers over a given period.
Average basket: Average value of the shopping basket when a specific product is purchased.
Value of purchases per visit: Average amount spent on a specific product per store visit.
Growth in sales volume and value: Change in sales volume or value of a product or product category over a given period, compared with a previous period.
Stock rotation: Speed at which a product is sold and restocked at points of sale.
Out-of-stock rate: Percentage of times a product was requested but not available in store.
Promotional effectiveness: Impact of promotions on sales volume and value compared with a period without promotion.
Cannibalization: Impact of sales of a new product on sales of other products in the same brand or category.
Marginal contribution: Impact of a product on overall category growth in terms of volume and value.
Why use panel data for consumer brands?
In the retail sector, brands are constantly on the lookout for reliable, accurate data to guide their strategic decisions. Retailer panels are emerging as indispensable tools, offering a plethora of information on in-store product performance and consumer buying behavior. Here's how brands can harness this valuable data:
Understanding the market and the competition
Thanks to market share analyses, retailer panels enable brands to understand their position in relation to the competition, offering valuable insight into their relative performance in different product categories. They also identify consumer trends, enabling brands to adapt their offers to better meet customer expectations.
Optimize your distribution strategy
Determining in which stores and regions products are available helps brands identify opportunities to improve their visibility and accessibility.
Evaluating marketing effectiveness
Measuring the impact of promotional campaigns on sales enables us to adjust strategies to maximize return on investment. What's more, research helps us to adapt advertising messages and develop more targeted promotions.
Refine product assortment
By identifying growing categories, panels help to recognize expanding market segments and adjust product assortment to capitalize on these trends. Brands can also assess SKU performance to identify under-performing SKUs, enabling them to rationalize their offer and assortment.
Strengthening commercial relations
The objective data provided by panels serve as a basis for negotiating commercial terms and developing strategic partnerships. In our article on strata in retail, we explain how to use them to better negotiate your picking.
Improve forecasting and inventory management
Use historical and current trends for optimized inventory management and more accurate sales forecasts.
Looking at new innovations
Panellist data can be used to innovate and develop products that meet customer expectations. They can test interest in new concepts or product innovations prior to launch, by assessing their market potential, as well as identifying the optimum time to introduce innovations or withdraw products in decline.
Panellist data and checkout: which to choose?
The choice between retrieving cash register output and using data from specialist companies such as IRI, depends on a brand's specific objectives, data needs and analytical capabilities.
What are the differences between panel data and datasharing?
IRI data gives average monthly and/or weekly sales for a sector, but not for the store (unlike checkout data). Panellist data therefore offer additional demographic insights. Let's take a closer look at the differences:
Differences between cash register outputs and distributor panels
Criteria
Checkout
Panel data
Source
Actual transactions recorded at the point of sale.
Information collected from a representative panel of consumers or points of sale.
Granularity
Highly detailed, including precise transactional information for each purchase.
More aggregated, providing trends and averages on purchasing behavior.
Frequency
Almost in real time, enabling rapid analysis of sales trends.
Often collected and reported periodically (monthly, quarterly).
Cost
Can be costly to set up initially, but offers "proprietary" data without major recurring costs for access.
Access to panellist data can be costly, especially for detailed, personalized analyses.
Depth of behavioral insights
Limited to what can be derived from transactions (e.g. which products are often purchased together).
Can include demographic data and purchase motivations, offering deeper insights into why people buy the way they do.
Coverage and representativeness
May be limited to specific outlets of a brand or chain.
Designed to be representative of the target market or consumer population, offering a broader view.
Use
Ideal for analyzing sales performance, optimizing inventory and understanding immediate consumer preferences.
Useful for understanding long-term consumer trends, consumer attitudes, and performance relative to competitors.
Benefits
- Up-to-date, specific data.
- Complete control over data collection and analysis.
- Global market overview.
- Behavioral and demographic insights.
Limitations
- Potentially narrow view, focused on specific points of sale.
- Fewer insights into behavior and motivations.
- Less data granularity.
- Cost of data access.
- May have reporting delays.
Which data to choose?
Well, both, sir! Using both gives you a 360° view of your sales strategy.
Panellist data helps us to understand which stores (in France) are similar, and therefore which similar strategies can be implemented.
Let's take an example: you set up a sales operation in the Aix-en-provence Carrefour store that worked very well: +50% sales volume over the period. Thanks to IRI data, you know that the Vannes and Pibrac Carrefour stores are similar (same type of clientele and buying behavior). So you can prospect them to offer the same OP, with figures to back it up.
As for checkouts, they will enable you to understand the evolution of your actual sales thanks to this OP, as well as its longer-term impact on customer loyalty to your products.
