South Africa’s biggest ever consumer panel now live

Kantar, the world’s leading evidence-based insights and consulting company, has launched a new consumer panel in South Africa – the largest in the region, and the second to be built upon digital data capture capabilities, after Kantar’s panel in UAE. The panel will provide global and local brands and retailers with an in-depth understanding of the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) purchasing habits of the dynamic South African population, enabling them to measure their competitive performance and find new growth opportunities. The first dataset will be published in July 2021. 

The new panel will measure the FMCG purchasing behaviour of more than 6,500 South African households at launch – the largest sample in the region. Covering all nine provinces, the panellists are representative of all socio-economic groups.

The digital capture methodology enables each panellist to provide continuous information about all their grocery purchases via barcode collection and in-the-moment trip records, using their smartphone. This reduces data lag and increases the robustness of the data collected. Other benefits include:

• Analysis by product, channel and retailer
• Reporting and segmenting by SKU
• Channel management tools to support retailer relationship discussions
• Data available 24/7 via Kantar’s Worldpanel data delivery and analysis platform
• Connecting the truth of purchase behaviour with what people think and how they choose products through bespoke shopper surveys
• A unique and complete view of consumers in South Africa, including all nine provinces and all socio-economic groups.

The new panel is part of Kantar’s ongoing investment to support client expansion in Africa, where it has been present for a decade. With the largest consumer panel presence of any market research company, it provides brands and marketers access to a wider set of markets, benchmarks, trends and insights. In addition to two panels in the Middle East, Kantar is now present within 13 African countries, representing 78% of Africa’s total GDP. These include its recent panel investments in South Africa, Ivory Coast and Ethiopia, consumer panels in Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco and Nigeria, as well as the commitment to expand its footprint to meet our clients’ demands in Algeria, Cameroon, Senegal, Tanzania and Uganda.

Kantar will build on the insights delivered through its new panel with its portfolio of expert solutions – bespoke advanced analytical services which support clients’ decision-making in key areas such as retail strategy, media investment and innovation. To meet the need for fast delivery, the data will be made available via Worldpanel’s data delivery and analysis platform, which can be accessed 24/7.

Idriss El Ganari, Managing Director Middle East & Africa, Worldpanel Division, Kantar, says: “South Africa offers plenty of opportunities for global and local FMCG brands to find new sources of growth, but only if you are able to understand shoppers and their rapid behaviour changes. With its size and diversity, South Africa really needed the right consumer panel to capture shopping behaviours from all types of households, income levels and ethnic groups. We are very excited to have successfully launched this new consumer panel in one of the most important African economies.”

Josep Montserrat, President, Worldpanel Division, Kantar, says: “This strategic approach will allow us to reinforce our understanding of shopper and consumer behaviour in the African continent, as well as our robust network of consumer panels across the world to provide a global context for brands wanting to grow at home or abroad.”

The South Africa panel connects Kantar’s wider African consumer panels with a consolidated global network of harmonised panel services in 50+ countries in Europe, Asia, the Americas and Middle East.

The first dataset for the South Africa consumer panel will be available in July with data for Q2 2021.