Chains Play Catch-Up on Data: Speakers

ELLIOT ZWIEBACH

LOS ANGELES — Kroger Co. did not begin making full use of its shopper data until it required category managers to utilize buying information from the chain's loyalty cards into their calculation of metrics, John Rand, director of retail insights for Kantar Retail, said here Wednesday at Kantar's mid-year forum.

"Tesco is the gold standard for using that data, but Kroger muddled around with the data for three years," Rand said. "Until then the buyers didn't know how to use the information, and that didn't change till Kroger required them to determine how the data affected shopping patterns among the top two tiers of loyal customers,” Rand explained. “Now Kroger's capacity to manage the data is as good as Tesco's."

David Marcotte, another director of retail insights at Kantar, said smaller operators use shopper data effectively because of their size. "It gets more complex once you're doing more than $2 billion," he pointed out.

In response to a question, Leon Nicholas, also a director of retail insights, said Wal-Mart, which does not offer a loyalty card, is able to track information by putting a code number on its receipts and asking people to call a number, "which gives Wal-Mart 1.5 million people a quarter to answer questions about their store experience — which is how Wal-Mart has determined its ‘fast, clean, friendly’ program is working."

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