Tracking who buys what and how often

Imagine writing down all items purchased daily in supermarkets and sari-sari stores in a diary.

ACNielsen Phils. has a core group of such diary writers in the Greater Manila area. They are chosen from all market segments–from the upper AB to the lower DE–and they form part of the home panel service which ACNielsen is offering to subscribers by end-October.

The final results of the study will, however, be available only early next year.

"Our home panel survey allows our subscribers to get the whole picture of what the consumers are buying, when and where they are buying and who are buying the various products on sale in the market," said ACNielsen director Susan Macion.

Home panel surveys are common in the United States and in Europe. In more technologically advanced countries, each survey participant is given a scanner, a machine that reads the bar codes of various products on sale in different outlets.

In the Philippines, the recording of purchases will initially be done by hand. Each survey participant will be given a monthly token gift.

ACNielsen Phils. is a subsidiary of VNU N.V., a Dutch company with headquarters in New York and the world leader in consumer market research. To set up the home panel survey, ACNielsen sent its research team to Hong Kong for training. Eventually, the survey will be conducted nationwide.

Main strength

Home panel survey completes the loop of research services offered by ACNielsen Phils.

At present, the company’s main strength is retail research, which monitors the various movements of products in the different sales outlets. It also monitors the performance of various brands, their market share and even their inventories in sales outlets.

Because its retail research has constantly evolved over the past 20 years, ACNielsen has a very comprehensive data base that their clients have used to gain a competitive edge, Macion said.

One of the trends which has emerged in ACNielsen’s retail research is the emergence of the second generation supermarkets. In size, these are supermarkets that are somewhere between the huge supermarkets and the grocery stores. These supermarkets sell everything from fresh food to packaged products and are located near the consumers, an edge when the retail trade is fully liberalized.

Although town malls are also becoming popular, giant malls and supermarkets have not lost their attraction and will continue to be part of modern trade. Traditional outlets like sari-sari stores and wet market stores are very much a part of Filipino culture but are not expected to grow considerably.

Consumer spending

Macion said the flat sales growth in the first quarter of 2001 could be a source of optimism. Because there was no drop in sales, this could mean consumers did not stop buying in spite of the economic slow down.

Market research data, for example, showed a notable uptick in the sales of instant noodles, which are cheap and filling to the stomach. There were also sales increases in personal grooming products such as colognes and deodorants as well as in health products such as skimmed and low-fat milk, water and tea products.

"We have to be careful in interpreting retail research data. Its results are mainly based on the movements of the products and not on consumer behavior and preferences," Macion said.

With home panel research in place, Macion’s and ACNielsen’s interpretation of consumer data will certainly be more authoritative.