ACNielsen Homescan Panel Hits 91,500 Households
ACNielsen has expanded its Homescan consumer panel to 91,500 households, with plans to reach 125,000 households by 2006.
The research company has signed nearly 50 CPGs and retailers to use the Homescan MegaPanel to track consumer purchases and promotional participation.
The panel expansion lets Schaumburg, IL-based ACNielsen better track sales in all retail channels, beyond its core work in food, drug and mass-merchandise stores (excluding Wal-Mart, which quit supplying scanner data to research firms years ago). ACNielsen can analyze sales in dollar stores, warehouse clubs, pet specialty stores and other fast-growing outlets.
The MegaPanel also lets marketers track specific audiences such as households with babies or teens, or African-Americans. ACNielsen uses the MegaPanel to launch loyalty-marketing analysis called Shopper Trends. This service quantifies the impact of shoppers’ attitudes on their loyalty to specific chains and stores.
Homescan panel members use in-home scanners to record the UPC codes on all purchases, then download the information to ACNielsen for analysis. The panel began in 1989 with 15,000 households.
