Household and retail panel data in retailing research: Time for a renaissance?

Abstract

Household panel data track purchases of a panel of households over time, while retail panel data track ̶ for a panel of retail stores ̶ brand or SKU sales at the store or retail-chain level over time. While most quantitative retailing research in the 1980s and 1990s was based on (household or retail) panel data, other data sets have since emerged shedding light on important new retailing concepts such as online sales, digital customer journeys, mobile marketing, and electronic word-of-mouth. Although to some retailing researchers panel data may have become a rather antiquated type of data, this article argues there are several trends to expect a panel-data revival or renaissance in retailing research. These include (1) an increasingly complete coverage of digital channels, (2) a wider acceptance of Empirics-First (EF) research, (3) an increased focus on Better-Marketing-for-a- Better-World topics, (4) a growing interest in pan-international research, (5) an increased focus on causality, (6) a growing recognition of the advantages of data fusion, and (7) more pressure to obtain research grants. As panel data have unique strengths that make them suitable for addressing these trends, there is considerable scope for a continuing important role for panel data in modern retailing research.