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About Penetration Metrics in Insights

Understand the difference between Household Penetration/% of Households, % of Shopper Group (Observed), and % Relative Penetration

Molly McDermott avatar
Written by Molly McDermott
Updated over a month ago

Learn more about these incidence metrics and when it is recommended to use each.

% Household Penetration

Definition

% Household Penetration is the percent of total US or Canadian (CA) households that match your selected criteria. For % Household Penetration, the denominator will ALWAYS be the total population (either US or Canada depending on which platform you are in).

Calculation

  • [# of households based on selected criteria] / [Total # of US (or CA) Households]

Examples

  • % of CA Households that shopped at Amazon in the latest 52 weeks

  • % of US Households that bought Dole bananas in March 2023

  • % of US Households that bought diapers 4+ times in Brick & Mortar stores in the last two years.

In Insights, we have two metrics available to understand penetration within a subset of the total population--% Relative Penetration and % Shopper Group (Observed).

% Relative Penetration

Definition

  • % Relative Penetration is the percent of the specified People Group that matches your selected criteria. This metric helps with understanding how specific People Groups or demographics shop products or stores relative to Total US or CA. For % Relative Penetration, the denominator will be the total number of households that fall within the People Group selected.

% of Relative Penetration is recommended when the People Group of interest is defined purely by demographic, geographic, or psychographic attributes. (If a People Group also includes any purchase-based definitions, please use % of Shopper Group (Observed), defined below.) % Relative Penetration is also the preferred measure for custom segments, Premium People Groups, and retailer subscription memberships.

Calculation

  • # of households that match the selected criteria [TCC-adjusted]/ [Total # of households in the People Group [Not TCC-adjusted, demographically weighted only]

    • TCC = Trendability Control Center - internal Numerator weighting/adjustment factor

    • Note: Since the People Group is defined by demographic attributes, the numerator is TCC-adjusted in % Relative Penetration. This allows for an apples-to-apples comparison to %Household Penetration.

Examples

  • % of Millennials that have bought hummus in the latest 3 months

  • % of TikTok users that have shopped at Ulta in the past year

  • % of Hispanic households in California that have purchased chips 12+ times in the latest 52 weeks.

% Shopper Group (Observed)

Definition

  • % of Shopper Group (Observed) is the percent of a particular People Group that matches your selected criteria. This is the number of households that match the selected purchase criteria divided by the number of households in your defined People Group. Like with % Relative Penetration, the denominator will be the total number of households that fall within the People Group selected.

% of Shopper Group (Observed) is recommended when the People Group of interest is defined by purchase behavior. When a People Group includes any purchase-based definitions (stores shopped, products purchased, etc.), even if it also includes demo/psycho/geo definitions, % of Shopper Group (Observed) should be used.

One exception to this guidance is for custom segmentations. Even if your custom segment definitions include both people-based and purchase-based components, % Relative Penetration is the preferred metric.

Calculation

  • # of households that match the selected criteria [uncalibrated, demographically weighted only]/ [Total # of households in the People Group [Not TCC-adjusted, demographically weighted only]

    • Note: This metric is demographically balanced and weighted to the total population and does not account for the TCC (Trendability Control Center - internal Numerator weighting/adjustment factor).

Examples

  • % of Body Wash Buyers that also buy Bar Soap

  • % of 2+ Trip Reese's Buyers that shop at Target

  • % of Walmart Shoppers that also shop at Publix

Watchouts

  • Since the numerator is not TCC-adjusted, % Shopper Group (Observed) is not comparable (apples-to-apples) to Total US household penetration.

    • To compare % Shopper Group (Observed), create a baseline of % Shopper Group (Observed) among All Shoppers --or another appropriate group--and index to that baseline.

Intended Use Cases

% Household Penetration

% Relative Penetration

% Shopper Group (Observed)

I want to look at penetration among…

Total US or Canada Households

A demographic, geographic, or psychographic People Group

One of my custom segments

A Premium People Group

Retailer membership program members

A purchase behavior-defined People Group

A People Group that includes both demo/psycho/geo requirements and purchased-based requirements

Examples

% of US Households

% of CA Households

% of Gen Z Households

% of Hispanic Households

% 35+ Hispanic Midwest Households

% TikTok Users

% of Walmart+ members

% of a custom segment

% of Body Wash Buyers that also buy Bar Soap

% of 2+ Trip Reese’s Buyers that shop at particular retailers

% of Walmart Shoppers that also shop at Publix

% of Gen Z Heavy Candy Buyers

% of Target shoppers in Texas

Reports

  • Shopper Metrics

  • Shopper Comparison

  • Brand Diagnostics

  • New Buyers Analysis

  • People Scorecard

  • Data Explorer

  • Portfolio Optimizer

  • Early Read

  • Advanced Trended Metrics Scorecard

  • Trended Metrics Scorecard

  • Data Explorer

  • Advanced Trended Metrics Scorecard

  • Trended Metrics Scorecard

  • People Scorecard

  • Shopper Comparison

  • Shopper Metrics

  • Data Explorer

  • People Scorecard

  • Advanced Trended Metrics Scorecard

  • Trended Metrics Scorecard

  • Early Read

  • Homepage

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Last Updated 02/12/2024

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