LinkQ Moment
LinkQ Moment: A New Capability to Capture the ‘Real’ Moment of Purchase or Consumption from Kantar Worldpanel
Kantar Worldpanel is dedicated to continuously improving the way that we capture and understand both shopper purchase and consumption moments. Over the last 15 years, through our ‘LinkQ’ solutions we have been able to connect with our panelists via surveys to understand more about the ‘why’ behind their purchase decisions.
Over the last few months we have improved this capability to enable us to trigger a survey to panelists within 24 hours from the moment they record their purchase. This new capability is called ‘LinkQ’ Moment and this brings a number of benefits to both manufacturers and retailers.
To demonstrate these benefits, we conducted a pilot project for the Carbonated Soft Drinks category by sending a survey to 200 panelists who had consumed a CSD product with the previous 24 hours. Some of the key insights and implications from the survey results will be shown below.
Firstly, though, why is it important to trigger a survey as close as possible to the moment of purchase? Through our testing of this approach we found that 96% of respondents were accurately able to recall the trip they had made within the 24 hours previously. This is a very high level of recall compared to more traditional approaches which may require the respondent to recall a purchase from weeks, or even months before.
This is particularly important for high frequency categories, like snacks and beverages, where many shoppers will alternate between different variants and brands. The more the panelist can remember about the trip the more accurate their responses will be, which enables us to deliver more precise insights.
Impulse vs Planned
Understanding the proportion of trips that are impulse vs planned can guide strategy on the importance of pre-store vs in-store communication with potential shoppers.
In our pilot test we found that over half (56%) of CSD trips are purchased on impulse and are not planned. 16% of respondents planned to buy the category but had not decided which product to purchase yet and the remaining 29% had already decided the exact product they will buy before going into the store.
This means that 72% of shoppers are making the decision on which product to buy in-store and shows the importance of product placement and the effectiveness in-store marketing for this category in converting shoppers.
Product Location in Store
Understanding where your consumers pick products up from in the store is critical when it comes to planning your product location and in-store activities, especially if your brand operates in more impulse driven categories.
From our survey we found that there are some significant differences where the product is picked up from between older and younger consumers for the CSD category. Younger consumers are much more likely to head to the chiller to find their drink whereas older consumer prefer to go to the ambient main shelf.
Secondary displays are also important accounting for almost ¼ of trips, and are even more important to shoppers who planned to buy the category but not the product; accounting for 33% of these trips.
Reason for Purchase
Knowing the reason why shoppers choose to buy your product or competitor products can help to understand the mindset of shoppers when they enter the store and tailor your communication to meet their needs.
From our pilot survey we found that 58% of shoppers buy the product because it’s the one they always buy or it’s a brand they like. This means there are 42% of shoppers who looking for a product their can meet more specific needs and the next 2 most important reasons are that ‘it was the right size for my needs’ (18% of respondents) and ‘the product perfectly suits the occasion I was buying for’ (16% of respondents).
This shows that optimising your portfolio to meet different needs and occasions is key in convincing shoppers to buy your brand over a competitor’s for at least one third of shoppers.
Further Understanding of Shopper’s Decisions
In addition to the above we can also understand more behind shopper’s decisions whether this be why they choose one brand over another, the different touchpoints they have been exposed to before the purchase, and how they found the in-store experience.
We also have the capability to understand the consumption moment to find out which specific occasion the product was used for and their experience of using the product. These insights can help to make sure that you are meeting consumer’s needs and allow you to tweak your product to ensure that it stay relevant and delivers a great experience.
If you would like to know more about our capabilities in this area and take advantage of being able to connect with real shoppers about real purchases in real-time please speak to a member of your client service team or contact the person below.