Kantar study to track shopper sentiment, its impact on consumption

Kantar IMRB and PAYBACK has published a comprehensive report, Shopper Barometer that monitors the shoppers’ perceptions of the economy and their financial well-being that impacts their buying decisions. This is the first study to track sentiments among consumers thus providing a real-time view of validated spends and thereby create robust models to predict future spends.
Talking about the study, Executive Vice President, Kantar IMRB, Sushmita Balasubramaniam said, “Shopper sentiments are down but not out – the financial strain is more likely a response to the current economic environment rather than lack of cash or affordability. It is evident that they are prioritizing what they choose to spend on – some categories like fashion, dining out have shown an increase in spends. The sentiments also vary by cities; those which have a population less dependent on IT and IT enabled services are more buoyant. A Shopper Index is a valuable tool for marketers and retailers, especially since it provides inputs into category spends apart from the overall shopper sentiment. This can input into crafting strategies that will either ride the wave or address shopper concerns for specific categories.”
Kantar IMRB’s Shopper Barometer surveys PAYBACK’s customers on two key areas i.e. spends and the disposition to spend – overall and by key categories. The study gives a complete read of the trendsetter urban markets and the consuming classes.
Commenting on the study, Vice President and Head of Partner Management PAYBACK India, Rijish Raghavan said, “PAYBACK network spans over 50+ brands, primarily leaders across each of the consumer spend categories and more than 60 million members engaging across this network. This places us in a unique position to access and develop high level intelligence and insights on consumer behaviour and buying patterns. This partnership and recent study with Kantar is another step in this process to leverage the understanding of our network of consumers to create actionable insights for retailers across the country around consumer sentiments and spend patterns by understanding the pulse of the consumer. This study will enable marketers to develop strategies around personalised experiences and engagement customised to specific service categories and consumer choices.”
Currently, the Shopper Barometer covers a strong panel of 1,200 PAYBACK customers drawn from the Upper to Middle Social Classes (SEC ABC) in the 8 leading metros of the country – Mumbai, Delhi- NCR, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, and Pune.
Senior Executive Director, Data Alliance, Kantar IMRB, Puneet Avasthi highlights that, “Both Kantar IMRB and PAYBACK track consumer spending across a large basket of categories. We have come together to combine our data strengths to create a bell weather indicator of Shopper Sentiments validated by spending patterns.”
The study has been envisaged as a track with multiple waves over a period. The recently conducted first wave provides a good read on the shopper sentiments post budget as a baseline. A follow-up wave is proposed later this year, to read shopper mood once GST starts settling in as also factors such as monsoon etc.