In the Media

• 03/04/2020 - The Guardian

  Off our trolleys: what stockpiling in the coronavirus crisis reveals about us

  
  

  True panic buying – as in, cupboards full to the rafters with ramen noodles or packets of pasta – is actually much less common than we think. When market analysis firm Kantar Worldpanel looked at data from 100,000 UK shoppers in mid-March, it found that only 3% of the population engaged in full-blown panic buying. The rest of the increase in food sales over the past month – an extra £1bn in the first three weeks of March – could be explained by consumers adding just a few extra items here and there. Chris Morley of Kantar wrote that the research suggested “huge volumes of consumers were adding a few extra purchases of products they normally buy, and adding a few purchases of categories that they don’t often buy into their trolley or basket [lentils being an obvious example] and were shopping more regularly than usual”.

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• 01/04/2020 - Independent

  Coronavirus: UK shoppers turn to English wine after being locked out of pubs

  
  

  Customers stuck in their homes have been turning to English wine to help them through lockdown, one of the country's leading winemakers has said.
  Data from Kantar on Tuesday showed that British shoppers had spent an extra £199m on alcohol at supermarkets, up 22 per cent, during the coronavirus crisis.

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• 27/03/2020 - Evening Standard

  It's not just panic buying that's emptying the UK supermarket shelves

  
  

  Data from market research group Kantar points to a more subtle shift in behaviour. It shows that, in the week to March 17, the amount people were buying per shop was up, but only by an average of 6%. The difference was, people were shopping 12% more often.
  Says Kantar’s head of retail and consumer insights Fraser McKevitt: “This is a case of not the few but the many. Lots of people buying a little bit more.”

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• 27/03/2020 - The Guardian

  The Guardian view on empty supermarket shelves: panic is not the problem

  
  

  The coronavirus pandemic is beginning to expose the fragility of our food system. But will we choose long-term solutions or short-term fixes?
  Research firm Kantar says the average spend per supermarket trip has risen by 16% to £22.13 month on month – not surprising when households realised they were likely to need lunches at home, including for children no longer in school, and could have to self-isolate for a fortnight.

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• 25/03/2020 - The Drum

  How media buyers are adapting to the ‘homebound economy’

  
  

  Kantar has released media consumption data too. 25,000 consumers across 30 markets to between 14-23 March had their say on how habits are changing. This was before UK and Indian lockdowns took hold.

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• 25/03/2020 - Men´s Health

  Coronavirus Timeline: How The World Will Change Over The Next 18 Months

  
  

  According to data insights consultant Kantar, which tracks more than 100,000 British shoppers, the UK made an additional 15 million supermarket visits in the week ending 17 March (the first week of social distancing), compared to the same week in February. The average spend was up, too, climbing 16 per cent. Despite what the pasta wastelands might imply, that's not just people stockpiling.

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