Information Resources Inc. (IRI) and the Europanel Association, which has the largest share of the consumer panel market in the world, announced they’re joining forces to form the world’s widest-reaching, single-panel research service.
The cooperative will combine IRI’s Consumer Network household panel in the U.S. with the Europanel to form a global consumer network representing 600 million households in 54 countries, including the UK, Germany, Japan, Brazil and Mexico, and it will also be the only consumer panel that covers Russia and China exclusively.
“It is our mission to be the world’s leading provider of consumer, shopper and business insights,” said John Freeland, IRI president and CEO. “Our new partnership with Europanel, which is the industry standard for international household panel information, solidifies this reality. Together, we now have the largest global consumer panel footprint in the world, providing double the coverage of our closest competitor.”
The panel will allow clients to examine in-depth consumer behavior, demographics and attitudes, Freeland said.
Europanel is comprised of a consortium of companies that includes two global market research providers, GfK ConsumerPanel Services and TNS Worldpanel, and its newest member, IRI Consumer Network.
The panel provides consumer insights covering more than 80% of the global gross domestic product and 88% of the global food market. Among the features of the IRI and Europanel partnership:
* An integrated set of best practices and research designs, including methodologies, analytics, reporting and delivery models.
* An agreement to share data in an open technology environment and to partner closely with clients.
* Global longitudinal analysis based on Europanel’s targeted focus on consumer panels and significantly high panel retention rates.
* An average international market share of nearly 80% in countries where competition exists, positioning IRI and Europanel as the global standard for detailed consumer and shopper insights.
* Vast experience in and development of shopper insights and “individual user” panels to support “best-in-class” measures of on-the-go categories and consumers.
* Implementation of state-of-the-art collection devices, such as the PalmPilot, Clicker, mobile phones and scanners to facilitate increased information collection in developing countries.
